Yet - A Leverage NS story
by msj12991
Summary: He saved her life, & now she is changing his. Through the challenges of living in a life of corruption and pain, can Sophie learn to trust and love again? And with the help of his new friend, can Nate learn to grow from his mistakes and learn to forgive? Yeah the summary is kinda crappy but hopefully the story is better ) Please read & review if you like it! Criticism is good. N/S
1. Chapter 1

Ch.1

It was early Sunday morning in Prague, at the city's train station. Hundreds of busy bodies were rushing throughout the train station to get to work, and some were rushing to venture the world. That was what sixteen year old Nathan Ford and his parents were doing; traveling the world, but only on business as per usual. At his young age, Nathan; or Nate as he preferred to be called; had already been around the world. His father's "business trips" had taken them to Tokyo, Hong Kong, Moscow, the Congo, and even to Auckland. But of all the places they've traveled to, Nate didn't admire any of them quite like he did Prague. It was beautiful & very interesting city. He was sad that they had to leave so soon. They'd only just arrived two days ago. He and his mother, Jenny, had visited the Prague Castle and the Old Town Hall. They wanted to visit the Saint Nicholas Church but they hadn't been able to; Jimmy, Nate's father, was in quite a rush to leave. Sighing heavily, Nate picked up two of his four bags and loaded them onto the train; he'd move them once he got all of them on board. As he sat his bags down, Nate heard people start to stir up. Crinkling his eyebrows he looked down the lobby, seeing why people were acting strange.

A short girl with long, black hair was running through the crowds, ducking & side stepping when needed. She never ran into any of them, just the whoosh of the air as she ran past them gave them a shock. Looking further behind her, he tried to see just who on earth the young girl was running from. At first he wasn't able to tell, but then he saw a very tall man rushing through the crowds as well. But worse than that, the man was holding a gun. Nate's eyes grew wide and his heart sped up. Everything was telling him to get onto the train. But he couldn't. Instead, he ran towards the young girl & grabbed her, pulling her with him to the train. Nate noticed that the doors were closing and picked up the pace, hoping the girl wouldn't fall. Just as the last door was about to close, Nate pulled himself & the young girl onto the train & they fell to the floor. Instinctively, Nate covered the young girl, just in case the man was somehow about to get aboard the train as well, or in case the man decided to try to shoot through the windows.

Feeling the train pick up speed, Nate looked up & looked around, his eyes searching for the man. Thankfully, the only ones he saw was the all the people staring at him but he paid absolutely no mind to them. As his blue eyes searched through the train once more, he decided that they were safe. Exhaling, Nate looked down at the girl and noticed she was beyond frightened and she had tears streaming down her cheeks. Becoming worried that she may have been wounded, he asked "Are you okay?"

She blinked her eyes at him & swallowed back her tears. "You saved my life." She replied, and Nate noticed she had a British accent.

Nate blushed and shrugged his shoulder, and pulled him & the young girl up. Nate looked the girl over and noticed that she couldn't have been that much younger than he was. He guessed that she just looked so young because of how scared she looked. But now, her face was free form fear, at least for now. He knew if she had any inkling that the man would somehow follow them that fear would be right back. Nate just hoped that it wouldn't come to that again. Pushing that thought back, Nate shook his head, feeling a bit rude. He didn't even introduce himself to the girl. "Yeah, um, I'm Nate." He introduced with a shy smile.

The girl smiled back and took his hand to shake it. "Lara."

Nate nodded his head and ran his fingers through his short brown hair, looking for a seat for them both to sit in so they could get up off of the floor. Once he found one, he gently grabbed ahold of her hand & pulled them both up to their feet. Nate let Lara take the spot near the window and he took the outside spot. Nate thought about his parents briefly. They were probably wondering what was holding up their son from sitting with them in the front car. Jimmy & Jenny had both boarded while he was gathering his things. Which reminded him; he lost his two bags that he'd left at the station. "Oh well." Nate thought to himself as his thoughts trailed back to his parents. They were both probably drunk by now anyways. "So, where are your parents?" Nate asked Lara as he searched the train, looking for any signs of someone looking for their child. They must be on the train. Why else would she have been at the train station? Seeing nothing unusual, he turned his attention back to Lara, awaiting her reply to his question, and from the look on her face he instantly wished he hadn't asked it. Her eyes were once again filled with fear. Had the man boarded the train and found her? Looking around the train once more, he saw no sign of the man with the gun. Feeling confused, Nate looked back at Lara and just waited for her answer. After a moment of silence, he honestly thought he wasn't going to get one. "Okay, you don't have to answer. I just thought maybe they'd be on the train as well." Nate said with a smile.

Lara took in a deep breath before replying. "The man you saved me from? That was my father." Lara admitted, shocking Nate.

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Yeah so this is my new story. This would be my first Nate and Sophie (well Leverage) story. Sorry that the first chapter is so short. I hope you all like it! This is AU (Alternate Universe) So… yeah. As of right now, I'm using her "real" name Lara. But it will be Sophie later on (you'll see how). Next chapter we will meet the parents and see where this goes from there. Yeah and by the way, I have never been outside of the U.S., or really even out of the state I live in, so I have no idea if there is a train station in Prague. I'd love to find out one day though. Also, never been on a plane so… I wouldn't know if you have to change flights to get from one place to another. Like from Prague to Paris, Paris to the U.S. That kinda thing. So just let me know what you all think and I hope you enjoy it!


	2. Chapter 2

Ch.2

Nate sat there, bewildered with this new information. That man was her father? Why was he chasing her? With a gun at that? Instead of just thinking about it, he decided to voice his question. "That was your dad?" He asked, receiving a nod from Lara. "Why on earth was he chasing you with a gun?"

Lara sniffed back her fresh tears and blinked twice. "My father is an evil man. He brought me here to sell me to a Russian man. They were going to make the exchange at the train station. I just panicked. I saw the man waiting for my father & me. So I took off. I didn't know where on earth I was going but I knew I couldn't stay there. I had no idea what the man's intentions were but I know they couldn't have been good. I honestly feared for my life, so I ran." Lara explained as she looked down at the ground, clearly ashamed.

Nate sat there, appalled by Lara's revelation. Her father wanted to sell her? How could one sell another person? And why would a man want to sell his daughter? Shaking his head, Nate placed a gentle hand on Lara's knee. "Don't worry Lara. Your dad will not find you. Not where we're going anyways." Nate assured her.

"Yeah… Where are we going? And where are your parents?" Lara asked, looking around the train.

"Well, we're going back to my home in Boston. And my parents are more than likely at the front of the train." Nate answered as he looked towards the front.

Lara's eyes squared as she brought her hand up to rest on her cheek. "Um, where exactly is Boston? I haven't really been out of Europe." Lara said.

"So you've never been to America?" Nate asked, receiving a shake of the head from Lara in response. "Oh, well Boston is in Massachusetts, in America." He replied.

Lara nodded her head as she thought of her current predicament. Where on earth was she going to go? What would she do? She knew she could not go back to the train station. Her father would undoubtedly have men there waiting for her to get off of the train. This train was headed to the airport. Where would she go from there? She had no money, so she couldn't buy an airline ticket. She was lost; utterly and completely lost. "So where are you and your family headed to once we reach the airport?" Lara asked curiously.

"From the airport, we're going to Paris then stay a night or two then catch another plane home." Nate answered, using emphasis on the _we_ part. He was fully expecting Lara to come along too. All he had to do was explain the situation to his father and he was sure his father would approve. "Lara, trust me. I will not let anything happen to you. I'll talk to my dad. He'll let you come." He said confidently.

"How do you know he'll say yes?" Lara asked.

"My dad's a good man. He'll see reason. He knows what the right to do is." Nate answered.

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"Nope. No, can't do it. Absolutely not." Jimmy declared, not looking up from his newspaper. He was not about to just take another man's daughter to the states. It just wasn't happening.

"Dad, please!" Nate begged on his knees, his hands in his father's lap. "Just let me explain it to you, please!" Nate continued, not ready to give up.

"Nathan I'm sorry. You do not know anything about this girl."

"I know she's in trouble." Nate countered. "You always say that we help those that are in trouble or in danger. She's in both, dad! So why not help her?"

"Because she is another man's child! If I were to take her, Nathan, I'd be kidnapping her!" Jimmy sneered.

"Then can we go through one of your friends in the government? Explain to them the situation and have them help? Have them get her a citizenship in America or something? Anything, dad just please. I'll do anything just… please." Nate begged again.

Jimmy sighed and lifted his head up to look at his son. "Why do you wish to help her so badly?"

Nate sighed and looked away from his father. His eyes immediately connected with Lara's. She gave him a meek smile and a wave & Nate couldn't help by smile and wave back. While they were sitting together in the back, before he had gotten the nerve up to ask his father about the situation, Lara had confided in him. She told him things that her father had done to her. Told him about things that he father had made her do. It was these things that made him want to help her even more. Her father was a ruthless man. He was pure evil. Something that Nate knew his father would know about and understand. Jimmy Ford was no saint, but he would never put a young woman through the things that Lara already had to go through. At Lara's age of fifteen, she already had to endure too much hurt and pain. Nate didn't want her to have to go through anymore. And if he could help it, she wouldn't have to.

Looking back at his father, Nate took in a deep breath. "Dad… I want to do help her because she's a nice girl. A nice girl who's in a lot of trouble. Her dad was going to _sell her,_ dad. If we let her go back, he could kill her. And I'm sure that he would, dad. So please… help me to help her." Nate insisted his eyes locked onto his father's.

Nate's mother Jenny, who was silent the whole conversation, finally spoke up. "Jimmy, we could do it, ya know? We'd be saving the girl. We'd be helping her escape something horrible. Well, Nate helped her escape. He saved her. And need I remind you he saved her from her father who was chasing after her _with a gun._ It would be foolish of us not to help her and to leave her here. We would be setting her up for death. I know that in my heart and I know you do too Jimmy. Now, our son has taken the first step and saved her. Let's follow up and do the same. You could talk to Alfredo in the Department of Immigration and get him to help. We could get her name changed so her father cannot find her. Whatever we need to do, we can do it." Jenny asserted. She would not be taking no for an answer. She would help her son and the young girl, whether her husband liked it or not.

Knowing he was defeated now, Jimmy sighed & looked at his fourteen year old son. "What's her name?" He asked Nate, pulling out his cell phone to call up Alfredo.

Nate smiled widely and stood back up, brushing his pants off. "Her name is Lara. Lara Vanderbilt." Nate answered.

Right then and there, Jimmy closed his phone, shell shocked. "Vanderbilt?" Jimmy asked

Nate scrunched his eyes as he replied, "Yeah. Why? What's the problem?" Nate asked as his father motioned for Lara to come over. Nate looked back and saw Lara smile and stand up to walk over.

As Lara approached, Jimmy took her hands in his & ignored his son's question. "Sweetie, can I ask you a question?" Jimmy asked, receiving a nod from Lara. "What is your father's name?"

Almost instantly, fear appeared over Lara's features. "Please do not call him!" Lara begged Jimmy but he put up his hand in response.

"I have no intentions of calling him honey. Just, what's his name?" Jimmy asked, stricken with worry.

Lara took in a deep breath and nodded. "His name is Malachi… Malachi Vanderbilt."

Jimmy swallowed thickly before replying. "Lara, I will not let your father find you. I will keep you safe, okay?" Jimmy assured her. Lara smiled widely and wrapped her arms around Jimmy's neck. Embarrassed, Lara released her grip on Jimmy and apologized.

"So, I'll be staying with Nate & you both?" Lara asked, looking back and forth between Nate's parents. She was honestly happy for the first time in a long while. Even more so now that she knew she didn't have to go back home. She'd make a new family and it would be with these great people and their courageous son. She would forever be grateful for Nate saving her. He didn't have to. He could've jumped on the train and left. But he didn't. Nathan Ford saved her life.

"Yes you will be staying with us. But, there will be a few minor adjustments. Uh, first thing, we will have to get your name changed." Jimmy started, getting a nod from Lara in response. "Um, two, we will need to change up your look some. Maybe color your hair or, give you a fake birth mark or something." He stopped once more to make for sure Lara was still okay with this so far. When she nodded her head again, he continued. "And, Nathan will be kicked out of his room temporarily while we add you a room and you will be staying in his room."

"Uh, I'm sorry, what?" Nate asked, placing his hand under his chin & raising his left eyebrow. "Can't we just, you know, move into a three bedroom home?"

"Uh, no, we cannot Nathan. In case you have forgotten, we recently just bought our home. Plus, I've been meaning to do some renovations and now I have a reason to do so." Jimmy said with a bright smile. So Lara, you will have Nate's room until further notice." Jimmy smiled along with Lara, ignored his son's protests as he stood behind Lara.

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So, that was chapter two. I hope you all enjoyed it! Oh and I don't know if there really is a department of Immigration, I'm sure there is but I have no clue. But! All is fair in fiction and… story writing…

Anyhoo! Please review, I greatly appreciate it.


	3. Chapter 3

Ch.3

Once the quartet arrive in Paris, France, Jimmy held up a hand to halt a taxi and they all climbed inside after Jimmy put the bags in the trunk of the cab. They rode to a nearby restaurant called Marino's. Lara looked completely famished & the others were rather hungry as well. While waiting patiently for their food, Jimmy excused himself to make an important call to one Alfredo Fonz, or as he called him, Fonzo. Alfredo worked in the Department of Immigration in Washington DC and had helped Jimmy "transport" people on more than one occasion. But this time it was different. He was trying to bring over a young girl; a young girl who was damaged & whose father was one that was involved in terrible things. Jimmy took in a deep breath and dialed the all-too-familiar number. After two rings, there was an answer.

"Alfredo Fonz speaking." The fifty year old, gray haired man answered, not taking notice as to who was calling him.

"Fonzo. Long time no chat, my friend." Jimmy smiled, tucking his own graying hair behind his ear as he stood out in the warm Parisian air. It was about 3:30 in the afternoon and with the warm heat, you could definitely tell.

The 6'4 man grinned widely on the other end. "Jimmy! To what do I owe this pleasure? Do I need to assist you in moving yet another fugitive? Not another in the Irish mob is it?" Fonzo asked, taking a seat as his cherry oak desk & looked out the window of his corner office, noticing the bright blue skies. It really was a beautiful morning in Washington DC.

Jimmy bit down on his bottom lip as he tried to work out how to ask Fonzo for his help. "Well, uh, not exactly no. I do need your help though; getting someone into the states and a new identification and such." Jimmy said squinting his eyes as the warm sun shone down on him.

"Okay, so not a fugitive then?" Fonzo laughed a little nervous.

"It may be worse than a fugitive to you, Fonz." Jimmy replied earning silence on the other end. After a moment, Fonzo answered.

"Uh oh. You're not into the trafficking business now are ya Jimmy?" Fonz asked in a joking manner, though he was really nervous now. What could be worse than a fugitive?

"No! No, nothing like that." Jimmy assured him, and on Fonzo's end, he let out a silent sigh of relief. "No, uh, it's a minor. A little girl."

"A little girl? What, Nathan met a young girl and wishes to marry but her daddy says no?" Fonzo joked with a laugh and a shake of his head. He & Jimmy had quite a unique friendship. Jimmy had saved his life on more than one occasion, so that left Fonz owing Jimmy plenty favors.

"Not quite like that." Jimmy replied, biting down on his lips again, leaving Fonz a bit confused and worried. "You see, Nathan saved the girl, Fonzo. She was being chased by her father. He was trying to sell her off to a Russian man." Jimmy revealed looking around to make for sure no one was listening in on his conversation.

Fonzo's breath caught in his throat at the mention of Russian. The Russian's were people you didn't mess with. "Jimmy, the could be involved with-"

"Oh, he's not involved, Fonzo. Her father is the damn leader of the Russian mob." Jimmy said, cutting Fonzo off. He heard Fonzo let out a gasp on the other end at the revelation. That's what he wanted to do after Lara told him who here father was. He honestly thought about leaving her there, but he knew he would never forgive himself if he did that; neither would Nathan and his wife. Jimmy knew exactly who Malachi was and knew to stay as far away from the man as possible. Malachi Vanderbilt was ten times worse than Jimmy was, and that said something. The man wasn't even Russian, yet he was head of the Russian mob. That was only due to the fact that he had close relations to the former leaders. Every mob man and woman around the world knew of Malachi and knew to stay away from him. No one would ever dare to cross paths with the man. Not unless you had a death wish anyways. He didn't get involved in Russian business, and they didn't get involved in his. That's why he had been second guessing his decision to help Lara since leaving Prague. But in the end, he knew he was doing the right thing. Jimmy just hoped that Fonzo would help him bring the girl across seas.

"So will you still help me?" Jimmy asked, running his hand through his short, graying hair, his blue eyes sparkling in the sun.

"Jimmy, you're talking about taking in the daughter of the _leader_ of the Russian mob." Fonzo answered.

Jimmy sighed and let his hand drop to his side. "So is that a no?" Jimmy asked, looking inside the restaurant at Lara. If he couldn't get her over somewhat legally, he'd have to do it by illegal means, which meant there was a higher chance of getting caught and her father finding out and he'd come after her. He was at a loss on what'd he do. After a minute, Fonzo spoke up

"I'll send you the new identifications as soon as I can. I'll have Tony get my jet and fly them over to you. I need you to send me a picture of the girl. How old is she?" Fonzo asked, opening his computer and clicking on various applications to set up new ID's, a passport and a birth certificate.

Jimmy smiled and licked his dry lips. "She's fifteen. She's maybe five feet, two inches tall. Um, she's got long dark hair, and brown eyes." Jimmy told him with a nod, though Fonz couldn't see it. "Thank you for doing this for me Fonz."

"Not a problem at all Jimmy. You're doing the right thing and I want to help you. Nathan was right to save that girl. Now as soon as you get the picture, send it to me. I'm already getting her a new name and birth certificate. Soon as I have that picture, I can get her a passport, school ID set up and even a Massachusetts state ID." Fonzo informed Jimmy as he continued to type away on his computer. "I'm going to call Tony real quick and give him the details. Call me when you find a drop spot."

"Will do. Thanks again Fonz." Jimmy smiled.

"Anytime Jimmy. Anytime."

With that, Jimmy ended the phone call and walked back into the restaurant and placed a kiss on Jenny's cheek. Nate noticed his father's return and gave him a look that said "How'd it go?" Jimmy gave his son a nod & Nate smiled, understand everything in that one gesture. Jimmy smiled back and took a long sip of his whiskey he ordered just as their food came. He just hoped that this decision would not haunt him

Later that evening, Jimmy sat waiting a brew pub not far from the hotel his family was staying at. He had received a phone call phone Tony telling him he was on his way and would be here in 10 minutes. If there was one thing Jimmy Ford did not have a lot of it was patience. It had been 20 minutes since Tony had called and he still had yet to show. As soon as he was about to leave the brew pub, Tony waltzed in with the large envelope in his hands. His olive skin glistened with water in the dim light of the pub. It must've been raining outside. Tony spotted Jimmy immediately and discreetly set the envelope down at the table Jimmy was occupying. Slicking his long, wet black hair back, Tony gave Jimmy a wide smile.

"Jimmy! Good to see you old man!" Tony boasted in his loud voice, embracing Jimmy in a tight hug. He let out a throaty laugh as Jimmy pushed him away, fully knowing that Jimmy didn't like to be hugged.

"Yeah you too Tony. You got my insurance papers?" Jimmy asked with a wink as he looked at the bartender, who seemed to be far too interested in drying out his drinking glasses to be concerned with their conversation, but he could never be too sure.

"Yup. Set them on your table. Now, I have a small finder's fee." Tony joked, rubbing his fingers together, and earned a slap on the back of his head.

"There's your damn finder's fee." Jimmy said, walking to the table and picking up the envelope. "Say hi to your father for me." He called out as he walked out of the brew pub. It was lightly drizzling outside so he put the envelope on the inside of his jacket. It wasn't much of a distance to the hotel from the brew pub, so he had decided to walk. Plus, when he left the hotel, the air was warm & crisp. Now it was moist and quite chilly. After five minutes, Jimmy arrived back at his hotel room. Only there did he feel safe enough to look over the documents. Pulling the papers from the envelope & looking over them, Jimmy smiled to himself. Fonzo was amazing when it came to his work. Jimmy was so focused on looking over the IDs and birth certificate that he hadn't even noticed Lara enter the living room area. It startled him when she called out his name. Turning around in his seat, he saw that Lara had an apologetic look on her face.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you." She apologized in a meek voice.

Jimmy smiled and motioned for her to take a seat next to him. "It's fine, Lara. Oh, here's your new birth certificate and IDs." He replied handing her the ID. "Your birthday is July tenth now. Same year, so you're still fifteen."

Lara scrunched her nose up as she looked at her new name. "My name is now Sophie?" She asked, looking at Jimmy with a raised eyebrow and an amused look on her face.

"Yes. Sophie Annalesia Devereaux." He replied with a smile.

Lara took in a deep breath and looked it over once more. This was all a whole lot for her to take in. She certainly didn't look like a Sophie, and she didn't quite like the name. But she knew that it was all Jimmy could do. She was thankful for that because he was helping to save her from her awful father.

"I know it isn't the best name in the world, but you'll get used to it. I've seen many people get unexpected name changes and not quite like the name at first but… they work with it." Jimmy said, fidgeting with his fingers. "I had to do it though, Lara. Otherwise your father could've easily tracked you and once we got to the states, he could've found you."

"I know. It's fine. It'll just take some getting used to, like you said." Lara, well now Sophie, replied looking at Jimmy once more. "So when do we head for America?" She asked tucking her dark hair behind her ear.

"Well, hopefully if all goes accordingly sometime tomorrow afternoon. I really think you'll like America, Lara. And Boston." Jimmy said with a smile.

Lara made a face and laughed. "If I'm going to get used to Sophie, you should probably start referring to me as such." She laughed making Jimmy laugh with her.

"Of course." He smiled. "So Sophie, I should be able to get your room set up in a week or so. Any particular colors you wish to have on your walls?"

"Blue & purple!" She exclaimed, her eyes wide with excitement.

The pair stayed up talking about Boston and Sophie's new room for quite some time. It was almost five in the morning in Paris when they both fell asleep. While they were sleeping, somewhere in Russia, one Malachi Vanderbilt stood in his mansion's den, throwing several objects around the room.

"How in the bloody hell does one child simply just disappear?!" He yelled his normally slicked back hair a raging mess. His eyes, dark with fury, darted around the room, looking for something else to throw.

"I don't know sir. We lost her after the train station. We cannot find her anywhere. We have facial recognition running, and still nothing." One of Malachi's underling's, Rico, informed him.

"Well find her! Do anything, just find her! I want her back here _now!" _Malachi growled. "Oh little Lara, you are going to be in for it once you're back home. You think you've known fury, just wait til I get my hands on you." Malachi said to himself, his voice dripping with venom. Little did he know, his daughter would no longer be in Europe by the end of the day. And with the way Jimmy Ford had everything planned out, he'd never be able to find his daughter.

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**A/N: **Ah Drama. Gotta love it. Well this chapter wasn't a whole lot of drama, just the ending. So what did you all think of chapter three? I know my chapters aren't that long but I don't want to jam a whole bunch of useless crap into one chapter. The next chapter, they'll finally be in Boston. How will things work out? Well, we shall see. =) Please review! I love reviews. =) Can I get at least 5 more reviews until I post up chapter 4? Please and thanks.


	4. Chapter 4

Ch.4

It was late afternoon by the time they reached the Ford residence in Boston, Massachusetts. The home was a two story, brick house, with bay windows and a French ornate door. It was rather breathtaking. Jimmy Ford closed the back end of his green 2007 Ford Explorer and picked up the two remaining bags and took them into the home. That was when Nate approached him.

"Dad, can she please just sleep in your room or something?" Nate asked for the sixth time since boarding the plane in Paris. He would never ask his father in front of Sophie or his mother. He always waited until he could get his father alone to badger him about it.

Jimmy sighed and sat the bags down next to the front door before closing it, then headed off towards the kitchen. "Nathan, you and I have been over this. You wanted to help her, and I'm glad that you did, but you need to understand that some sacrifices need to be made when you make sudden decisions. Sophie needs somewhere to sleep and I will not have her sleeping on the couch. Until I can get her a room, she'll have to sleep in yours. I'm sorry." Jimmy stated once again receiving a huff from Nate.

"Why can't she sleep with mom?" Nate asked.

"Do you honestly think Sophie would feel comfortable with sleeping with your mother? I sure as hell do not. She barely knows your mother." Jimmy replied, leaning against the marble counter.

"Dad, she hardly knows any of us that well. But she still decided to come and stay with us to get away from her dad. I'm pretty sure she'd be happy to sleep anywhere as long as her dad isn't there." Nate countered honestly.

Jimmy sighed once more and glared at his son. He really was stubborn as a mule, just like his father. Jimmy knew that Nate just didn't like the idea of giving up his room. But it was what Jimmy had to do. "Nathan, please just work with me here. Okay? It's only temporary; maybe five nights. Just do it for me." Jimmy concluded, walking into the living room, with Nate following right behind him. He noticed Sophie standing out in the living room and hit himself in the head. "Oh, I'm sorry honey. I didn't even bother to show you around, did I?"

Sophie gave him a polite smile and shrugged her shoulders. "It's alright. I was just admiring all of your paintings." Sophie admitted, her eyes going over the walls once again. "It's quite a collection." She added as she stared at a painting that she could bet was an original Monet.

"Ah, thank you. It took me quite a while to acquire them all. Most of them cost me quite a bit to obtain them." Jimmy smiled. "Anyhow, Nate here will show you to the room you'll be staying in." Jimmy said, turning around to face his son with a bright smile on his face.

Nate sent a glare at his father before locking eyes with Sophie. He gave her a small smile before ushering her up the stairs. He led her to a bedroom at the end of the hallway. Once he opened the door, he wished he hadn't. His room was a complete disaster area. He blushed, highly embarrassed and started picking up various items of clothing. "I'm really sorry about the mess. We were, uh, in a rush to get to Prague and stuff."

Sophie laughed and shook her head as she took a seat at his cherry wood desk. "It's okay, really Nate. No worse than I thought it'd be." She joked. "Are you sure that it is okay though that I sleep in your bedroom? I'd hate to intrude on your space." Sophie asked, not yet receiving an answer. Nate was much too busy picking up his things. She decided to just watch him as he picked up his things and flung them into different drawers. He threw his boxers and socks into a small wooden drawer, his shirts in a long, faded black drawer, and his jeans were flung into the closet to be hung up later. Her eyes connected with his a couple of times, but as soon as they did, he'd look away. She had to admit, there was something about Nathan Ford that attracted her to him. She wasn't quite sure what it was, but she knew it was there. She just felt a pull towards him and couldn't explain what it was.

After about five minutes, Nate put the last of his thing up and sat at the foot of the bed, letting out an exhausted breath. "Sorry again. It was a huge mess." He apologized, pushing his messy hair back.

"It really is okay Nate." Sophie replied as she fidgeted with her fingers. "Nate, are you sure it is okay that I sleep in your room?" She asked again, her brown eyes wide.

Nate just stared at her for a moment, lost in her eyes. He couldn't tell her that he hated the idea of not sleeping in his own room. So, he lied. "No… I mean yes. Yeah it's okay that you sleep in here. Totally fine."

Sophie saw straight through the lie though. She gave him a meek smile and moved to sit on the bed beside him. "Nate, I'm sure that I could ask to sleep elsewhere. I don't want to impose on you and take your room from you." She said, locking eyes with him again.

Nate swallowed thickly at the contact. His throat suddenly became dry as he felt a need for some air. It was insane the effect that Sophie had on him just by looking at him with those brown eyes of hers. Especially since they had only met the other day. He secretly wondered if this is what people meant when they used the expression 'love at first sight.' Nate shook his head at that thought and licked his dry lips. "No, it's okay. Really. I mean, I'd much rather you sleep in here than downstairs." He replied. And that was true. You couldn't get anywhere near his room from the outside. There aren't any trees near his window, and there are no ledges either. Downstairs though, if someone wanted to get in, they could. Sure, they had a security system, but if Sophie's father figured out where she was at and found her asleep in the living room, her could get in, get her, then get out. Or, he could just sent a bullet through the window and-. Nate didn't let himself complete that thought. He shook his head once more and looking back at Sophie and saw a curious look on her face. "What?"

"You okay Nate?" Sophie asked, truly concerned for him.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm cool. Why?" Nate asked confused.

"You just had a sort of scared look on your face is all." Sophie replied. If she was honest, the look on his face was of pure terror. But now his face displayed no signs of that terror. He was calm now. "You are okay though?" She asked again receiving a nod from him. "Okay. So are you going to go with your mother and me to the mall? She said she'd buy me some clothes and stuff since I don't have any."

_"Yeah and I bet she decided all the clothes could go in __my__ closet."_ Nate thought to himself. He was pretty territorial since he never had to share a room with anyone before. "I might just stay here with my dad." Nate replied, looking down at the floor. Maybe if he stayed home, he could convince his father to let him keep his room.

Sophie frowned and looked down at the floor. "Oh." Was all she said back, sadness evident in her voice.

Nate noticed this and looked at her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just thought that you would come with us. I'm not very well acquainted with your mother." Sophie stated.

_"What is it with the Brits and their fancy words?"_ Nate thought to his self. "Well, I mean, you and I don't know one another that well either, Soph." Nate reminded her.

"Yeah I know, but I know you more than I know you mother. Plus, I'd feel more comfortable if you came along." Sophie replied. Her brown eyes sought out his blue ones and once they connected, he didn't look away like she was sure he would.

Nate a swallowed thickly and nodded his head. "Yeah." He said, his voice coming out a bit higher than normal. He cleared his throat and started again. "Yeah, I'll go with you. You're right; it'd be totally weird for you by yourself with my mom. You know, she's weird. I mean, not weird, she just um… annoying at times. Yeah I'm gonna go remind my mom that we're going to the mall so she don't forget. She's kinda old ya know?" Nate said, rushing out of the room, thankful for some air.

As he left, Sophie let out a light laugh. He was a complete nervous wreck around her. She didn't know how, but she seemed to have that effect on people. She was just really grateful that he decided to come along with her and his mother. She would have been rather nervous to spend the entire day with the woman by herself. But now, since Nate would be there, she knew it'd be better. She was also very grateful that his parents were not only letting her stay, but they were taking care of her as well. That was more than she had expected. Taking in a deep breath, Sophie stood up from the bed and walked down the hallway towards the other room, which she supposed, was Jimmy's & Jenny's room. Hearing voices inside the room, Sophie slowed her pace and listened at the door.

"Dad, come on! Why do I have to do this?" Sophie instantly recognized that voice belonged to Nate. He sounded rather upset. Moving closer to the door, she peered her head around the door and saw Nate standing at a long, cherry oak dresser, his arms crossed in front of his chest, a scowl apparent on his face.

"What on earth do you expect me to do, Nathan? Put her up by herself in a hotel room? I will not do that to her! Now drop it!" Jimmy replied angrily. He stood up from his bed and walked towards the door. He opened it the rest of the way and both men saw Sophie stand there with tears in her eyes.

Nate immediately felt guilty. He knew that he was the cause of those tears. He started to move towards her but she rushed down the stairs. "Sophie! Please wait, I'm sorry!" Nate yelled after her, pushing past his father and running down the stairs. Nate noticed that the front door was open and that his mother had emerged from the kitchen, asking what was going on. He just ignored her and ran out the door. Looking down the street, he spotted her halfway down the street, running towards the nearby park. Letting out a deep breath, Nate took off after her. "Sophie!" He called out, but she just kept on running. "Soph, agh, LARA!" He yelled again. This time she stopped. As soon as he caught up with her, he tried to take her hand but she pulled away from him.

"Leave me alone Nate." She choked, tears running down her face.

Nate sighed and rubbed his forehead. He sure felt like a huge asshole for making her cry. He was supposed to be helping her, not making her cry and feel unwanted. "Sophie, I really am sorry." He apologized.

"Don't worry about it. I'll just find someplace else to stay." She said, wiping her eyes. But it was no use, the tears kept coming. She was hurt by what she heard Nate say. If he wanted his room, he should've just told her. She would've gladly slept in another room, even if it meant sharing a room with his mother or taking the bloody couch. She just didn't want him hating her for something she had no control over.

"No. Sophie please don't do that. I don't want you staying someplace else. Please. Stay with me… with my parents." Nate urged, not wanting her to leave.

"Why the hell should I?! It's completely obvious that you do not want me there, Nate!" Sophie yelled, her emotions taking over her.

"Soph, I do… I just… It's hard for me, okay?"

"It's hard for me too, Nate! I hardly know any of you, yet I decided to stay because your parents were allowing me to. They were helping to save me from something horrible! I decided to stay because _you_ saved my life! Because I know no one else would ever do that for me! Yet you did! You risked your life for me! And now your family is taking me in too, and they hardly know me! But they're doing it because… hell I don't even know why but I thank them for it! And I thank God for it! But you need to understand you're not the only one going through a hard time!" Sophie yelled, wiping her tears. "And damn it, Nate, I told you I'd sleep somewhere else if you really wanted to sleep in your room! I wouldn't care where I had to sleep as long as I was with you and your family! But you didn't tell me! Instead you go and yell at your father about it! Why is that?" Sophie asked, her tears still falling from her brown eyes.

Nate sighed heavily and shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't because… God, Sophie I don't know why. But I do know that it was a … selfish, dick move. And I'm sorry. I want you to stay. Please." Nate pleaded. He really hated his self right now. He never wanted to hurt her, yet he did. "Sophie, I really am sorry. Please just stay. You can sleep in my room; I don't know why I was being such an ass about it. My dad's right. It's only temporary." Nate let out a deep breath and reached out for Sophie's hand again. This time she didn't pull away. Facing her now, Nate reached up to wipe away the remainder of her tears. "I really, truly am sorry Sophie. I was being a jerk and I shouldn't have been." Nate apologized sincerely.

Sophie let out a deep breath and licked her dry lips, feeling rain start to slowly fall from the sky. "It's okay Nate. But… if your room means so much to you, why not ask your parents about us sharing it?" She suggested, and Nate gave her a funny look. "I mean, maybe we could see about getting a chaise or something and I could sleep on it in your room?"

"Ha… Yeah… I do not think my dad would go for that. Let alone my mother." Nate replied with a shake of his head.

"Why not? I mean, we wouldn't be sharing the same bed or anything." Sophie laughed, making Nate slightly uncomfortable with that thought. "I'd be sleeping on the chaise and you'd have your bed. So I honestly do not see why they wouldn't be okay with that." She added, not really understanding the problem.

"Yeah but, we'd be sharing a room." Nate replied. Sophie just blinked her eyes at him, still not seeing the issue.

"Okay but, don't brothers and sisters normally share rooms?" She asked, scratching her head.

"Eh, some do but that's just the thing there Soph, you and I aren't brother and sister. We're friends, ya know?" Sophie apparently still didn't understand the problem. "Soph, they'd be thinking that you and I would do something together." Nate finally said, slightly embarrassed.

"Ugh, why would we though? I mean, we don't even like one another like that." Sophie said with a dismissive wave. She wasn't going to say that she did sort of like him like that.

"Okay, yeah, but still. They'd be… freaking out or something and staying up all night and checking up on us every fifteen minutes just to make for sure." Nate said, rubbing his temples. Gosh, talking this conversation was really making him uncomfortable and giving him a headache. She really could be stubborn at times.

Sophie pursed her lips, feeling very determined to get her way. She grabbed Nate's hand and pulled him back towards the house. She ignored Nate's protests as they walked through the front door. She thought she heard him say something about "not gonna work" but she just rolled her eyes. What Sophie wanted, she normally got. Pulling Nate into the kitchen to find his parents, Sophie smiled widely and Jimmy returned the smile.

"Good good. Everything find between you both then?" Jimmy asked taking a sip of what Sophie assumed was whiskey.

"Yes we're fine. I just have a quick suggestion, well question really. Why don't Nate and I share his room and I can sleep on a chaise or something? That way, we both sleep in the room and neither of us has to take the couch." Sophie said with a bright smile.

Nate stood behind Sophie and saw the look his parents exchanged and he knew the answer would be a definite no.

Jimmy gave Sophie a small smile before taking another long sip of his Irish whiskey and looked back at his wife. She shrugged her shoulders and gave him a nod. Looking back at Sophie, he responded "I think that is a great idea, Sophie."

Sophie grinned even wider and looked back at Nate who had a dumbfounded look on his face. "Thank you Mr. Jimmy. Nate and I just thought it'd be a better idea to share the room.

"Of course. I don't know why I didn't think of that myself. Huh. Great thinking though kids." Jimmy smiled.

Sophie smiled back at him. "_See? What Sophie wants, Sophie gets."_ Sophie thought to herself as she looked back at Nate.

Nate could see the sly look on her face and he shook his head. How in the hell did she do that?

About an hour and a half later Nate, Sophie and Jenny were all at the mall. While Jenny was busy looking at purses, Nate & Sophie browsed through the clothes.

"How in the hell did you do that?" Nate asked, voicing his thoughts. He was for certain that his parents would've politely declined her suggestion, but they accepted it! Even said it was a great idea and they didn't know why they didn't think of it.

Sophie smiled as she looked through the ring of tops. She came across a real pretty white one with little ruffles going down the front of it. It was actually rather cute. She picked it up and looked back at Nate who was still waiting for a response. "I have a knack for convincing people to see things the way I do. Whenever I really want something, I just ask nicely and it normally works. If not, I find a different approach and try again." Sophie replied with a sly smile, finding a cute pair of black leggings that would match her teal top she found earlier.

Nate raised his eyebrows quizzically as he looked at her. "Huh. So next time I want something, just have you ask for me." Nate joked, making Sophie laugh lightly.

"It really doesn't matter who does the asking, Nate. It's all about presentation and _how_ you're asking." She replied, turning her full attention to him. "If you ask a question expecting to be let down, you will be. Just be confident but not cocky. Be cool and calm, not rude and overbearing."

Nate couldn't help but to stare at her; being under the full attention of her, he found it rather hard to breathe. Finally, once she had turned her attention back towards the rack of clothes, he found his voice. "How do you know all of that?"

"Well, my older sister Elizabeth taught me a few things." Sophie admitted sadly, shocking Nate. This was the first Sophie had mentioned having a sister.

"You have a sister?" Nate managed to choke out.

Sophie nodded her head and looked at him. "Two actually, and an older brother. All of them are older than I am. Liz is 17; she left home a _long_ time ago though. Kristen is 21 and lives in New Zealand with her five year old son, my nephew, Elijah. And then there's Demetri. He's 24 years old and he works with my dad." Sophie revealed, staring at the ground as she remembered her siblings. Of all of them, Elizabeth was the nicest towards her. That was probably because while Kristen and Demetri shared the same mother, both Sophie & Elizabeth had different mothers. Sophie's biological mother had died after giving birth to her. She had lost too much blood and the doctors were unable to revive her. Elizabeth's mother, however, was still alive and healthy, but she was rather young when she gave birth to Elizabeth. She left Elizabeth on her father's front door step two days after giving birth to her and hasn't been seen since. "Anyhow, Liz taught me a lot of things; how to talk to people; get them to do what you want most of the time, oh and how to tell a real from a fake." Sophie said with a nod.

Nate raised his eyebrow at her. "Real what?" He asked, confused.

"Well people… amongst other things." Sophie concluded with a smile.

Before Nate could ask her what she meant by that last bit, his mother came back over and pulled her into another conversation about Gucci or something. Nate wasn't sure. But he would be looking forward to continuing the conversation later.

**A/N: Read and review please! Hope you enjoyed chapter 4! Can I get 5 more reviews before posting chapter 5? Please and thanks! =D**


	5. Chapter 5

Ch.5

"Your bed really is quite comfortable." Sophie said with a laugh as she jumped onto Nate's full sized bed, running her hands over the silk, blue blankets. "I'm quite shocked that you chose a silk comforter though." She added,as she layed her head on the soft pillow.

"My mother picked it up one day. I had absolutely no say so. I came home from school one day and found it on my bed. I didn't want to upset her so I kept it." Nate said, pulling his wallet from his jean pocket and placing it atop his dresser. "Just don't you get too comfy. We agreed you'd take the chaise, remember?" Nate reminded her in a joking tone. He really wouldn't care if she slept in his bed. He'd gladly take the chaise. It was new and it looked rather comfortable. He just hadn't liked the first idea of sleeping in the living room.

Sophie nodded her head sadly. "That I do remember." She replied, running her fingers through her long dark hair.

"Soph, if you really want to you can sleep in the bed. I'll take the chaise." Nate proposed with a warm smile.

"Oh no, that's alright Nate. I don't want to take your bed from you. It's bad enough I'm intruding and sharing a room with you." Sophie said with a shake of her head.

"Sophie, how many times do I have to tell you that you're not intruding?" Nate said with a sigh as he took a seat at the end of the bed. "We can figure out the sleeping situation later. You still wanna watch that movie you got?" He asked as he slipped off his shoes and crossed his legs.

Sophie's expression changed as she smiled widely and reached over to grab two movies off of Nate's night stand. "Which one? We've got 'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days' or 'Pitch Perfect?'" She asked, holding up both movies.

Nate sucked his teeth as he stared at both movies. Either way, he was stuck watching a chick flick. He decided to go with the movie that he thought would be the least chick flicky. "Uh, Pitch Perfect I guess." Nate said with a dismissive wave.

Sophie grinned widely and crawled to the edge of the bed, leaned over and turned the television and the DVD player on. She pressed the eject button and gently placed the DVD on the DVD tray before closing it back. Sophie eased herself up off of the floor and sat at the edge of the bed next to Nate. "You're gonna love this movie Nate, believe me."

Nate laughed and shook his head. "Oh I'm sure I will. A bunch of girls singing in a competition. It's gonna be great." Nate replied, not hiding his sarcasm.

Sophie rolled her eyes at him and pushed him playfully away from her. "You were the one that said I could pick the movie we watch so I do not want to hear it." She declared, opening up her bag of gummy bears and popping two into her mouth.

Nate shook his head at her and moved backwards on the bed to rest against the wall. Sophie followed suit and moved to sit next to him, giving him a cheesy grin as she did so. He laughed and shook his head at her. "You are a mess, do you know that?"

"Shh, the movie is starting." Sophie shushed, forcing a gummy bear into Nate's mouth to silence him. Nate in return playfully glared at her, but she had paid no mind to him.

"I'm gonna get you back for later, I hope you know." Nate threatened her in a playful tone.

"I thought I asked you to shush, you're gonna miss a really funny part." Sophie said, forcing a handful of gummy bears into Nate's mouth once more.

Nate chewed up the gummy bears, and then opened up his own bag of sour gummy worms. Smiling evilly, he pulled out two gummy worms and threw them at Sophie, causing her to scream out.

"Nate! I am going to kill you for that!" Sophie shrieked, pulling the gummy worms out of her hair and sent Nate a death glare.

"Hey hey now, I told you I'd get you back for your little scheme." Nate replied, unable to contain his laughter at the expression on her face. She was pissed but he found it rather funny, and cute.

Sophie rolled her eyes at him and threw the gummy worms she pulled out of her hair at him & shoved him with her shoulder. "I hope you know that I really dislike you right now." She stated, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Nate just smirked as he ate another gummy worm. He briefly turned his attention towards the movie, but he found it didn't really hold his interest. He found himself looking at Sophie from the corner of his eye. He didn't know why he couldn't explain this pull he felt towards her. He just loved to be around her. She made him feel happy. Hearing her beautiful laugh brought Nate from his thoughts and he couldn't help but to look at her and admire her. She was so beautiful; even the way her nose scrunched up when she laughed was adorable. Nate laughed to himself and looked towards the TV screen. He wasn't sure of how much of the movie he had missed but it didn't seem like it was too much. "So what exactly is the plot of this movie?" Nate asked, casually moving his arm to rest behind Sophie.

Sophie looked over at Nate and shook her head. "You haven't been paying not a bit of attention to this, have you?" She accused, playfully poking him in his side.

"Wh- Yes I most certainly have been paying attention. I'm just completely lost as to the whole plot of this thing." Nate lied.

"Uh hmm, sure. Anyways, the plot is something like this. Beca, the grungy looking chick, and well she wants to move to LA to be a producer and make music. But her dad wants her to stay in college and get a degree. So they end up agreeing that if she at least tries to get involved in a student activity and she still doesn't want to stay, he'll pay for her to go to LA and he'd even help her get there. So, she joins this acapella group "The Barden Bellas." Sophie explained, not wanting to give Nate too much information if he really hadn't been paying attention to the movie, though she was pretty sure he didn't watch any of it.

"Oh, well that's always fun." Nate smirked as he chewed on another gummy worm. Sophie shook her head at him and reached into his bag to steal a gummy worm. "Hey! Those are my gummy worms! You should've gotten your own if you wanted some." He teased and poked her in her side.

"I think I like them better when I just steal them from you." She said with a sly smile. Nate raised an eyebrow at her and started tickling her in her sides, causing her to bust of laughing. "Nate! No, pleeeasee stop!" Sophie laughed, trying to squirm away from Nate but he held her down, not allowing her to move.

"Say 'sorry Nate for taking your gummy bears without asking.'" He demanded in a playful tone still tickling her sides.

"Nnnnevvverrr!" She laughed. But her laughs quickly turned into screams of pain as Nate moved to her lower abdomen. Nate jumped back, afraid that he hurt her and he immediately felt guilty.

"Oh my God, Sophie I'm so sorry! Are you okay? What did I do?" Nate asked, worried that he caused her much pain. His eyes roamed over her as she wrapped her arms around herself.

Sophie had to calm herself down before she could even look at him. She felt terrible for making him feel bad. It wasn't his fault. He hadn't known what had happened to her. Straightening up as slowly and carefully as she could, Sophie turned to Nate and gave him a warm smile. "It's okay Nate. I'm fine."

Nate looked at her dumbfounded. He was sure that he had hurt her. He could pretty much tell that she was hurt from the way she was moving carefully and from her screaming out. "Are you sure, Soph? I mean, you sounded like you were in a lot of pain." Nate said, bringing his hand out to rub her arm.

Sophie took in a deep breath before replying. "I mean, I kinda was but it wasn't because of you. It kinda happened quite a few days ago before I even met you, so." Sophie explained, not really wanting to go into too much detail. It hurt her to talk about the physical pain her father had put her through. Hell, it hurt her to talk about any of the pain he had put her through. Sophie didn't like to think about it, but it was still there, lurking deep in her thoughts. She wanted to tell Nate everything that had happened, but she also didn't want to burden him with the horrible truths of what had happened to her. She didn't want him to feel sympathy for her. That was the last thing she wanted from him.

Nate didn't need Sophie to go into further details though. He knew what she had meant by what she said and by the way she was acting. Nate swallowed back the lump in his throat and reached up to touch her face. "I'm really sorry that that happened to you, Soph." Nate said barely above a whisper as Sophie leaned in to his touch. Nate didn't know what came over him but before he knew exactly what he was doing, his lips connected with hers. At first she pulled away but then she returned the kiss.

"Nathan?" Jenny called out from the hallway, right outside of the door. Nate immediately pulled away from Sophie and tried to put as much distance between him and her as possible right before his mother came into the room. Jenny gave them both a gentle smile before she turned her attention to Nate. "Nathan sweetie, I was thinking that maybe tomorrow you could show Sophie around town a bit? You know, show her the park, where some of your friends live and then the school too of course since you all will be starting back up in a couple of weeks." Jenny suggested as she leaned against the doorframe.

Nate merely just nodded his head and stood up from his bed. "Yeah." He started, his voice several pitches higher. "Yeah that sounds like a great idea. Um, I'm gonna go uh, take a shower. So I will… be back in a bit." Nate said in a hurried tone as he retrieved several items of clothing and rushed out of the bedroom & down the hallway.

Jenny raised an eyebrow then looked at Sophie, who looked rather conflicted. "What's going on with him?" Jenny asked as she motioned towards Nate.

Sophie shrugged her shoulders and gave Jenny as good of a smile as she could muster up. "No idea." She lied rather convincingly. Jenny shrugged her own shoulders and left the bedroom, leaving Sophie to her own thoughts. _"What the bloody hell just happened?" "Why did he kiss me?" "Is it wrong to not be upset that he kissed me?" _All of these thoughts, and many more, were going through Sophie's head as she sat on Nate's bed. Things between them had gone from civil to friendly and now to just plain awkward. They'd definitely have to talk about that kiss once Nate got back from his shower. Only thing was, Sophie wasn't quite sure when he would come back. She knew that he had only left to distance himself from her. He was more than likely just as confused about the whole thing as she was. Sophie knew that they both needed to talk it over though. Their friendship couldn't just be left like this. At least, she hoped it wouldn't be.

**A/N: So this was chapter five. I know the whole kiss thing may have come a bit soon. Hopefully it wasn't too soon for you guys. But anyhow, please read and review, and I really hope that you all still enjoy this story and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! =) At least 5 reviews before chapter six please!**


	6. Chapter 6

Ch.6

After Nate left the room, Sophie ended up turning off "Pitch Perfect" and just laid on Nate's bed, the thoughts of what had just happened running through her mind. She knew that she liked Nate; actually she liked him a lot; but she didn't want that kiss to ruin everything between them. Nate was a great friend to her; he was her only friend. She didn't want to lose him because of that kiss. Sighing heavily, Sophie pushed herself up off of the bed and left the now cold bedroom. She wandered down the hallway and down the stairs into the spacious living room. Her eyes skimmed over the paintings on the walls, and as much as she wanted to stay and admire them, she knew she had to find Nate first so she could speak with him. Looking around the living room, Sophie noticed that Nate wasn't in there and concluded that he must have been in the kitchen. She softly tip toed into the kitchen and saw him sitting at the long okay kitchen table with his back to her. Sophie snuck up behind him and tapped him on his shoulder, scaring him to death.

"Jesus, Sophie you scared the hell outta me." Nate said clutching his chest as if trying to slow his heart rate.

"I'm sorry about that. I just… I want to talk to you about what happened up there." Sophie replied as she took the seat opposite him. She made note of the tense look on his face and gave him a small smile, though he was desperately trying to avoid eye contact.

Nate sighed heavily as his eyes darted around the room, trying to look anywhere but at Sophie. He felt like such an idiot for kissing her. He knew he ruined their entire friendship. "Soph, can we just forget about it? I was stupid and it shouldn't have happened." He said, rubbing his forehead. He just wanted to forget the whole thing ever happened, though he knew it would be hard for him to just forget it. He had wanted to kiss her, it just wasn't the right time to do so and he felt like a complete ass for kissing her when she was in such a vulnerable state

Sophie blinked at him as she took in what he was saying. "Huh? Nate, it wasn't your fault. I kissed you back, it's not like I fought against you or something. I don't regret it; I just don't want things to be awkward between us." Sophie admitted as she rested her hands on the table. God, she wished that Nate would just look at her and see that she was being sincere.

Nate moved his hands from his forehead to his temples and started rubbing them. He closed his eyes tightly as he felt a massive migraine coming on. "Soph, I appreciate what you're trying to do. You're trying to make me feel better about it, and I appreciate it, but I know it was my fault and I know it was awkward for you. It was a complete dick move on my part and I'm sorry. I agree with you though, I don't want it to affect our friendship." Nate set his hands in front of him on the table and clenched his eyes shut, trying to ease his migraine.

Sophie pursed her lips as she looked at Nate. She could see tension and pain on his features and stood up from the chair, immediately realizing that he had a headache, and from the looks of it, it was a pretty bad one. "Nate, where do you keep the migraine medicine?" She asked as she rummaged through the cabinets. She wasn't going to go back to the conversation of the kiss. She'd only known him a few days and had already taken notice that he could be very stubborn. So she let that conversation go; for now.

"Um, the migraine medicine is in the medicine cabinet behind the mirror in the bathroom upstairs." Nate answered. Opening one eye, he saw Sophie nod her head then run out of the kitchen. Nate sighed heavily as he watched her disappear up the stairs. He really felt terrible about the kiss between him and Sophie. He did it after she had practically told him that her father had physically abused her. They had briefly discussed some of the things her father had done to her while they were riding on the train but she never went into full details about it. Nate just felt like he had taken some sort of advantage of her because she was in a vulnerable state at the time. Running his fingers through his short hair, Nate leaned back against the chair as Sophie ran back into the kitchen.

"Okay, here's the medicine. You should take it." She said as she placed the two oblong pills into Nate's hand then took her seat. She watched Nate as he placed the pulls into his mouth and swallowed them without any water. "How in the bloody hell do you do that?" Sophie asked as she rested her head on her left hand.

Nate just shrugged his shoulders and licked his lips, still avoiding eye contact with her. "I don't know really. Just something I learned how to do, I guess."

Sophie let out a deep breath and stared at him. "Are you going to keep acting as if I'm not here or are you going to look at me?" She asked with a hint of sadness in her voice. Nate lifted his head and finally his eyes met hers. Giving him a warm smile, she replied "It really is okay Nate. I don't want things to be weird between us."

Nate let out a content sigh as Sophie placed her hand over his. It was foolish of him to think he could ever avoid her brown eyes. He adored them; if he was honest with himself, he adored her. It was crazy to him of how little Sophie had to do to send these feelings through him. It was in that moment that he was truly thankful that he had met this beautiful young woman. Nate wasn't quite sure what he would do if he was never able to see her again. But he didn't want to think about that.

"I don't want things to be weird between us either, Soph. I just don't want you to hate me because of what happened up there." Nate admitted.

Sophie rubbed the back of his hand with her thumb and she stared into his beautiful blue eyes. "I really don't think I could ever hate you Nate. Dislike you maybe, but never hate you."

Nate licked his dry lips and moved his hand from under hers to hold her hand. "You really are a great friend to have Sophie." He smiled, causing her to blush. "So you wanna go watch another movie?" He offered, wanting to escape back to his bedroom. He knew that if his parents heard voices coming from downstairs, they'd eventually make their way down and see what was going on and he really didn't want to explain what had happened.

Sophie smiled and she thought about teasing him for a moment. "Why? You're going to try to sneak in another kiss, aren't you?" She teased, making Nate blush. "Aw, you're cute when you blush." She added, making his cheeks turn even redder. "But, I do think it would be quite fun to watch another movie. This time though, you can pick it out." Sophie replied as she stood up from the table and pulled Nate up with her.

The pair walked up the stairs and into the bedroom, still holding hands; which neither of them seemed to acknowledge that little fact. Sophie laid down on the bed and waited for Nate to pick out a movie. Once he did, he sat on the bed next to Sophie.

"It's a scary movie, isn't it?" Sophie asked seeing the evil smirk playing on Nate's lips. Her fears were confirmed when Nate took her hand in his and scooted closer to her. "Oh God Nate, I am going to murder you for this. You know that I do _not_ like scary movies." Sophie said as she squeezed Nate's hand.

"It isn't that scary I promise. It's the movie "My Soul to Take" by Wes Craven." Nate informed her and squeezed her hand reassuringly. "I promise you'll be okay."

Sophie took in a deep breath. _"A movie made by Wes Craven? It's bound to be scary. Look at the "Nightmare on Elm Street" movies!" _She thought to herself. "Nate, I will be able to get to sleep tonight after watching this right?" Sophie asked, still clinging onto Nate's hand.

"Yeah, yeah, you'll be fine." Nate replied halfheartedly. Truthfully, he knew that the movie would more than likely scare the hell out of her. But that was sort of his plan. Feeling Sophie scoot closer to him, he smiled brightly and squeezed her hand again to reassure her that she'd be alright.

About halfway through the movie, Sophie's face was buried in Nate's neck; she was seriously freaked out by the movie.

"Will you please turn it off Nate? I don't think I can handle watching anymore." Sophie pleaded, but her voice was rather muffled since her face was buried in his neck.

"Yeah, I'll switch it off for ya Soph." Nate answered then reached behind him to grab the remote off of his nightstand and turned off the television. "There we go; it's over now." Nate said with a small smile. He felt really bad (once again) about having Sophie watch the movie. It really terrified her. He started to rub circles on the small of her back, hoping that it'd calm her down some. "You okay, Soph?" Nate asked her as he turned his head to look at her. Feeling Sophie nod her head, Nate brought his hand up to run his fingers through her long, dark hair.

They sat like that for a while until Sophie lifted her head up to rest her chin on Nate's shoulder. "I'm sorry I punked out on you, Nate."

"Aw hey, don't worry about it. I've seen that movie at least ten times." Nate replied with a shrug of his shoulder. "Are you sure that you're okay though?"

Sophie let out a deep breath before replying. "Yeah, I'm okay now. Thank you Nate."

Nate furrowed his eyebrows at her. "For what?"

"Well, for being you. You know for comforting me and not making me watch the rest of that horrible movie." Sophie replied, her chin still resting on his shoulder. She also wanting to thank him for being such a great friend and for… well for a bunch of other things but she didn't know how to go about thanking him.

"Oh, well you're welcome." He said with a smile then pulled her into a warm hug. "I'm just glad that you're okay now."

Sighing contently, Sophie moved her head to rest against Nate's chest. She heard the beat of his heart and felt like she could fall right to sleep.

"Hey Sophie, you know how earlier when you were talking about stuff your sister taught you? What else did you mean by she taught you how to recognize a real from a fake?" Nate asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.

Sophie bit down on her bottom lip as she thought of a better way to approach the subject. Once she realized that there really wasn't a better way to approach it, she just told him the truth. "A real piece of art from a fake one. Like a real painting or sculpture from a fake one."

"Why'd she teach you how to do that?" Nate asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, um, she knows I love art. She wanted to teach me just in case I was ever at an art auction and wanted to buy any art work." Sophie said, only half honestly. She couldn't tell him the full truth.

Nate just nodded his head in response as he continued to stroke her hair. He looked over at his clock and his eyes grew wide as he noticed the time. "Wow, I didn't realize that it was this late." He said with a small laugh.

"Why? What time is it?" Sophie asked, not moving from her spot.

"It's 2:28 in the morning." Nate said with a shake of his head. "I've actually never stayed up this late." He laughed.

Sophie laughed lightly and snuggled closer to him, hoping that Nate wouldn't suggest going to bed soon. She didn't really like the idea of sleeping by herself. Even on the plane, they had slept next to each other. She knew that if she did sleep by herself, the nightmares would come. But she also didn't want the chaise to be left unoccupied. Nate's parents did just buy it for her to sleep in. "I'm not really all that tired though, are you?" Sophie asked as she lifted her head up to look at Nate.

He shook his head and gave her a small smile. "Not really, no. We slept almost the whole trip over here on the plane." Nate replied. "So what do you want to do since neither of us are tired? Watch another movie?"

Sophie pursed her lips and shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno. I'm rather content just laying here." _With you_ is what she didn't say.

Nate smiled and nodded his head then lay back against his pillow. He was quite comfortable just lying there with Sophie resting her head on his chest and him running his fingers through her hair.

Before too long, the pair drifted off into a deep sleep. It was the first time in a long time that either of them had a good night's sleep.

...

**A/N ** So that was chapter six! I hope you all enjoyed it! Please read and review! I at least want five more reviews until I post the next chapter. Please and thanks!


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I of course do not own Leverage nor am I at all affiliated with Leverage. I also do not own the WWE or Rizzoli and Isles. You'll see what I mean later in the chapter =) **

Ch.7

The following morning, Nate woke up with a warm body draped over his midsection. Opening up one eye, Nate noticed that Sophie was still sound asleep, her head resting on his chest and her arm wrapped around his waist. He wasn't entirely sure how she had ended up like that but he wasn't complaining. He had slept better last night than he had in months. The past few months, he'd maybe slept for two hours straight a night. It wasn't that he had nightmares or anything; he just couldn't sleep.

Nate felt his stomach rumble and he bit his bottom lip. He recalled that he had barely eaten any dinner last night, so that's why he was feeling rather hungry. Nate didn't want to wake Sophie up though, so he just laid there and traced lines up and down her back. Her shirt had risen up in her sleep and Nate noticed that she had a dark bruise on the small of her back. He quenched his eyebrows as he felt himself get angry. He knew who had caused it and it made him furious.

Nate took a deep breath to calm his self down. He didn't want to wake up Sophie and he knew that if he became too angry, he'd start to shake. Lord knew that it had happened to him before on occasion. Instead, he pulled her shirt back down to cover up the bruise; though that didn't keep him from knowing it was there. Nate took another deep breath and continued to gently rub her back.

As he lay there, he recognized that they both had fallen asleep in their jeans instead of in their pajamas or at least something more comfortable. Nate looked at the clock that rested on the nightstand and noticed that it was 11:42 in the morning. He was rather shocked that neither his mother nor father had come in the room to check on them. They were both probably on a business meeting or something. That was his parents; always working, barely having any time for him. Not that he minded it too much. It meant he was on his own or hanging out with his friends most of the time.

Feeling Sophie start to stir, Nate quickly withdrew his hand from her arm & pretended to be asleep, but Sophie knew better.

"Why'd you stop? That felt good." Sophie said groggily as she repositioned herself to rest her head on Nate's shoulder. "I know you're not asleep Nate, so stop pretending." She said as she tickled Nate's side, making him laugh.

"Damn it, don't tickle me Soph." Nate laughed as he reopened his eyes & brought his hand back up to rub her arm.

"Well, you were pretending to be asleep. You can't fake with me Nate; I can tell when you try to." Sophie replied as she closed her eyes, relishing the warmth of Nate's touch on her skin. "Sorry about falling asleep on you by the way. You're just really comfy." Sophie apologized with a small smile.

"It's okay. I slept pretty well like that anyhow." Nate replied with a shrug. "I didn't mind it at all." If he was honest with himself, he'd admit that he had liked it; he liked it a lot. There was a connection between him and Sophie; he felt it and he was sure that she did too. He just didn't want to act on it yet, not until he knew for sure that Sophie did feel the same connection.

"Uh, so… do you feel up to going around town today?" Nate asked as he continued to rub Sophie's arm.

"Yeah, I just need to take a shower & stuff." Sophie replied but she made no attempt to get up to take a shower. She would much rather just lay in bed with Nate like this all day. But she knew that wouldn't happen. Especially since she knew that before too long, his mother would come through the door to see if they were awake. Sighing heavily, Sophie pushed herself up on the bed then immediately laid back down on Nate, who laughed.

"I thought you were taking a shower?" Nate asked with a laugh.

"Nope, it's too cold. You're very warm and I don't want to get up just yet." Sophie replied as she snuggled against Nate's chest.

"Haha, well you do know we'll have to get up eventually, right? I'm sure my mom will be coming to check on us real soon." Nate said as he began to rub Sophie's arm once more. He had to admit too, when Sophie lifted herself up off him minutes ago, he missed the warmth of her skin and was rather happy when it appeared she felt the same way.

"Well, I hope _you_ know that as long as you keep rubbing my arm, I'll have no intentions of getting up." Sophie laughed.

Nate shook his head at her yet continued to rub her arm. Her skin was so soft and warm; he couldn't help but to touch her. He secretly hoped that his parents had left for an early business meeting or something, that way he and Sophie could just lie in bed until they were fully ready to get up. Nate knew that if his mother was home, she'd be coming up soon to tell him to get up and out of bed and enjoy the nice summer day.

Then a thought came to his head. Spending a day out with Sophie actually wouldn't be a bad idea. He could take Sophie out to see the sights of Boston. They could go down to the harbor, go to the park, get a bite to eat, and then he could show her the school.

"You know Soph; now that I think about it, getting out wouldn't be such a bad idea." Nate said breaking the silence.

Sophie raised her head to look at him; was he seriously serious? "What?"

"Yeah I mean, it's a bright sunny day, why not enjoy it?" Nate suggested with a bright smile. "It'd be just you and me hanging out together; us getting to know one another a little better than we do now." Nate continued, trying to sell her on the idea. As a bright smile appeared on Sophie's face, he knew she was sold.

"Alright. That does sound like fun actually. Just let me get ready okay?" Sophie said as she pushed herself up on the bed once more.

Nate laughed as he stared at her. "Are you really gonna get ready this time or are you gonna fall back on the bed again?"

Sophie just smirked at him as she swung her feet off the side of the bed and headed towards the closet. Chewing on her bottom lip, she looked through the closet and pulled out some jeans and a teal shirt then headed to the bathroom.

Nate sighed heavily, already missing her warmth, but chose to get up anyways. He reluctantly pushed himself up off of the bed as he heard a soft knock on his bedroom door. He knew it would be his mother.

"Come on in mom." Nate called out as he threw his bed together, even though it wasn't that messed up considering the slept over the covers rather than under them. Nate smiled at that small fact as his mother came through the door. He glanced over at her and noticed that she was wearing her black business suit. Yup, he was right; his parents were already out on business. Nate absently shook his head as his mother took a seat at his desk.

"Good morning honey. Where is Sophie?" Jenny asked, looking around the room. Her question was quickly answered when she heard the shower turn on. "Never mind then. Are you two still going out today?"

"Uh, yeah we are. I'm gonna take her down by the Boston Harbor. I might take her to the park first though. It's supposed to be a real nice day." Nate answered as he walked over to the closet and pulled out a pair of black jeans along with a white tank top and a blue button down shirt.

"Nathan, did you sleep in that?" Jenny asked once she noticed that her son was not wearing the proper sleeping attire.

"Huh?" Nate asked as he gave himself a once over. "Oh, um, yeah we kinda fell asleep while we were watching a movie." Nate half lied. Technically, they fell asleep once he turned the movie _off,_ but Jenny didn't need to know every little detail. He also failed to mention the fact that they ended up falling asleep _together_.

"Hmm. Well I don't suggest you do it again. It's not very good for your clothes." Jenny replied as she pushed back her shoulder length, red hair.

Nate nodded his head, though he didn't quite know how sleeping in certain clothes could do any harm to them. He absent mindedly shrugged his shoulders as he walked over to his dresser, on a hunt for his favorite red and orange socks.

"So, you will be showing her around town, right? Introducing her to your friends?" Jenny asked as she picked up one of Nate's shirts that had fallen behind his desk. She would need to put it in the laundry later.

Nate pursed his lips as he replayed her question in his head. "Uh, show her around town, yes. But introduce her to the 'crazies'? I think not." Nate replied with a laugh & a shake of his head. "I don't want to scare her out of town mom. She really seems to like it here so far. I'd like to keep it that way."

"Oh Nate, that's an awful thing to say. Your friends are very nice." Jenny countered.

_"Yeah around you."_ Nate thought to himself. He had a small group of friends and they _all _were crazy in their own right. Sure, they acted normal in front of his adoring parents. But once they were all alone together, you'd think the lot of them was supposed to be locked away in an insane asylum. Okay, maybe he was being a bit unfair; they guys were a little less insane than the girls were.

First, there was Eliot Spencer. Eliot was your average jock; captain of every sports team that their school offered. He was also a big hit with the ladies, as long as none of those 'ladies' were his best friends. But he wasn't a big dumb jock like many thought of him to be. Eliot had taken up an interest in cooking; which Nate thought that had a lot to do with the new 23 year old blonde teacher. Also, Eliot was pretty good at painting.

Hardison; or as it said on his birth certificate, Alec Hardison; is really into computers. At fourteen, he was able to hack into the White House for about four minutes until his IP address was detected. He's a pretty laid back guy and he's really interested in painting as well.

James Sterling used to be one of Nate's best friends. They had met back in 6th grade and had instantly connected. They had many things in common. He could be a douche bag at times though, especially upon entering high school. This was why Nate didn't like hanging out with him as much.

Shawn Michaels was Nate's brother from another mother; literally. Shawn lived with his mother, Pattie, about two blocks down the road from the Ford residence. He was a little less than a year younger than Nate; with Nate being born August 16th and Shawn being born on July 22nd the following year. At the time, Jimmy & Jenny were separated, so technically he didn't cheat on her. Shawn played just about every sport along with Eliot. Out of all the sports he was in though, he was most interested in wrestling.

Then there were the girls. First, there was Parker; loveable, innocent, crazy little Parker. She had lost (actually killed) her foster parents when she was about eight years old. Since then, she has been bounced around the system, but she runs away after being placed in a new home. Parker's also a kleptomaniac, unbeknownst to her friends. They also didn't know that her parents were killed… by her.

Next there was Tara Cole. Tara lived at home with her Uncle Michael. Her parents were killed in a tragic car accident not far from their home on Christmas Eve when she was ten. Many believed that it wasn't an accident though, but there wasn't any evidence to prove otherwise. Since then, Tara became a sex addict, turning to sex as a way to bear the grief.

Maggie Collins is one of the most honest and smartest people that Nate ever knew. They briefly dated during freshman year but they both decided that they were better off as friends. Maggie was on the cheerleading team along with Tara and Parker (Tara had to beg Parker and bribe her with money to get her to join the team).

Then there was Jane Rizzoli. Jane is Shawn's not-so-secret girlfriend. She's also pretty good friends with Tara. For some odd reason though, she wasn't too fond of Maggie. Jane is a huge tom-boy but hates admitting it because people always call her a lesbian. Those same people that call her a lesbian also end up getting the hell beat out of them by Jane herself.

And lastly, there was Maura Isles. Maura is _the_ smartest freshman ever! She's in all AP classes; Tara even jokes that she takes AP lunch. Maura's also very shy and innocent though. She's very much like Parker. They were both bounced around the system for a bit. But Maura eventually found a home with her adopted mother Constance. Her adopted father wasn't around too much. Maura doesn't say too much though, but when she does, she makes everyone laugh. She's a natural comedian. Nate met Maura because her biological father, Patrick Doyle, frequently did business with his father. But Patrick and Maura's biological mother had to give Maura up for adoption due to Patrick's lifestyle.

Nate shook his head as he came back to reality. He had a crazy group of friends, but he had to admit, he'd be lost without them. Nate laughed as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Yeah mom, I still think I might wait to introduce her to them all." Nate laughed.

Jenny sighed and shook her head as well. "Well, alright then. Just have fun okay? Your father has left his credit card here for you two, so don't go over your limit okay? Same for Sophie." Jenny said as she stood up from Nate's desk. "Oh and Nate, please do not forget to take your key. Your father and I both have more business meetings throughout the day and there is no telling when either of us will be home."

"K mom, I'll grab my keys before we go." Nate replied as he finally found his favorite pair of socks which were buried deep in his bottom drawer under his old tank tops. He smiled warmly as he heard the shower shut off in the bathroom.

As Jenny was beginning to make her way out of Nate's bedroom, Sophie stepped out from the bathroom, with her hair wrapped up in a purple towel. She was dressed in her black jeans and her new teal off-the-shoulder shirt. "Good morning Mrs. Ford." Sophie greeted with a warm smile as she noticed the petite woman.

"Good morning sweetie. And please, call me Jenny dear. Mrs. Ford is much too formal." Jenny said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Anyhow, you kids have a great day today, okay?" Jenny concluded, looking straight at Nate, who nodded his head in return. With that, she left the room.

Nate let out a heavy sigh of relief. "Thank goodness that's over."

"What?" Sophie asked with a cute laugh. "I think she's very sweet."

"Yeah well, wait until you get to know her more _sweetie_ then you may not be thinking such things." Nate said with a smirk as he pulled on his socks and shoes. Once he did that, he gave himself and Sophie a once over. "Yeah um, I think we both seemed to forget the fact that it's going to be really warm out today." He said, noticing that they both were wearing jeans and dark shirts. And he even had a tank top on underneath his shirt.

"Okay. Well, I really don't want to wear a bloody sundress or those shorts. This was the best thing I could find to wear." Sophie said as she looked through her half of the closer; which Nate had kindly let her have, surprising both himself and his parents.

"Seriously." Nate stated rather than asked as he shook his head. "Didn't you get, I don't know, a halter top and come Capri things or something?" Nate asked with a scratch of his head.

Sophie squinted her eyes at him and looked through the closet once more. She thought that she had gotten a white halter top but she hadn't been able to find it. Sighing lightly, she looked back at Nate. "Yeah, I thought I got one too but apparently not because I cannot find it anywhere in here." Sophie told him with a shrug of her shoulders.

Nate held up his finger, indicating for Sophie to give him one minute. He stood up from his bed and walker over to the closet. Looking through his side of the closer, he heard Sophie let out a small laugh.

"Yeah, Nate I really don't think that my top would be on your…" She stopped short as Nate pulled out her top with a warm smile on his face. "How did you…"

"That would be my mother's fault. In hers and my dad's closet, her clothes are on the right and my dads' are on the left." Nate smiled as he handed her the top and walked back over to his bed.

Sophie looked at him then back at the shirt that he handed her. "Huh. Well thank you Nate, really." Nate just shrugged his shoulders as Sophie walked back into the bathroom to change her top and fix her hair. Pulling her teal shirt over her head, she decided to ask the question that had been praying on her thoughts. "So are we going to be meeting your friends today?" She asked Nate, somewhat hoping that the answer would be no. She didn't really feel up to explaining the very unique situation of her staying with Nate and his parents. She was still getting to know Nate and it would be a bit much on her to meet the others so quickly.

"Uh, no not today. They'd probably scare you off." He replied with a light laugh as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"What do you mean 'they'd scare me off?" Sophie asked as she let her dark hair fall down her back. She searched for her new purple hair brush that Jenny had just bought for her while she awaited Nate's answer.

"Well, I mean, they're all kind of crazy & insane in their own way. I mean, my friend Eliot, he's a big doofus until you piss him off; he's a big guy. Then Hardison is all techy and stuff; I don't understand half the stuff he talks about." Nate said with a laugh before continuing. "Don't get me started on Parker. She's the _definition_ of crazy. I love her like a little sister though. And then there's my half-brother Shawn; he's pretty normal I guess. He's like me in a lot of ways." Nate stopped as he saw Sophie walk out of the bathroom. She just radiated natural beauty and he was awestruck by her.

"But if he's like you, doesn't that make him crazy as well?" Sophie joked as she sat at Nate's desk to pull on her slip-ons.

Nate came back down to earth at that and playfully glared at her. "I'll have you know, I am not crazy, my dearest Sophie."

"Uh huh, sure you're not." Sophie countered. "Anyways, are you ready to head out? Because this girl is a bit hungry." Sophie asked as she mimicked her stomach growling, and then laughed at her own failed attempt. "Bloody hell, I sounded like a dying walrus." She laughed.

Nate just shook his head as he suppressed a laugh and stood up from his bed. "I reckon we can get going, Princess Sophie." Nate jeered, earning a poke from Sophie.

"You know I do not like being called that." Sophie said playfully glaring at him. This should be a fun day.

*Later That Day*

"It is a nice, warm day out here isn't it." Sophie stated rather than asked as she tilted her head back in appreciation of the bright warm sun.

Nate looked over at her and smiled to himself, admiring her beauty for at least the fourth time so far today. Her hair fell in soft, gentle waves around her shoulders. And the green sundress; that she decided to change into_ right_ before they left; brought out her beautiful chocolate brown eyes. She really didn't know just how breathtakingly beautiful she was.

After a beat, Nate finally answered, "Yeah it is a nice day. I'm glad that we decided to come here."

_Here_ was the Boston City Park. There were at least one hundred people here today and it was no wonder with the amazing weather. Boston, lately, had been rather chilly. So a warm front in the North East was a pleasant surprise.

"So, I planned on showing you some of my favorite spots to hang out at. This would be one of them." Nate said with a bright smile as he looked at Sophie, who was looking at him as well. "Whenever my friends want to hang out or I just want to get away for a while, I come here." He explained as he looked around the big park.

_"Jeez, almost everyone in town is here."_ Nate thought to himself. Then he saw _her_. His eyes grew wide as he lightly touched Sophie's arm to get her attention, hoping that _she_ didn't spot them.

"Hey Soph, on second thought you wanna go and hang by the…" Nate started but was interrupted by _her_ yell.

"NATE!" The girl yelled and jumped down from the jungle gym, making a run for them.

"Oh God, turn around and walk away quickly with me, Soph." Nate urged as he practically dragged Sophie back towards the bus station. But he quickly remembered that _she_ was on the track and cheerleading team and that she was much faster than he was. Nate knew that he had been much too slow when he felt _her _tackle him from behind and knock him down to the ground.

"Damn it, Parker!" He cursed as his face connected with the cold hard ground. He grunted as he pushed himself up off of the ground and glared at Parker, who was smiling widely. "You know, a little warning next time would help." He said as he brushed his self off.

"Well sorry, it looked like you were trying to leave without saying "Hi" to me." The blonde said with a shake of her head and a small laugh.

_"I actually kinda was." _Nate thought to himself. "No, no of course not. We just decided to head to the harbor first." Nate said with a nod of his head.

But Parker wasn't paying any attention to him. She was instead staring at Sophie with a crazy grin on her face. "So is this why you didn't call us when you got home from Prague? You finally found you a cute little girlfriend, eh Nate? This is both good and odd at the same time because Eliot & I were betting against Hardison & Tara that you were gay." Parker giggled and continued on before Nate could say anything. "Hi, I'm Parker!" She introduced to Sophie with a bright smile.

"Pleased to meet you, I'm Sophie." Sophie replied with a laugh.

"Ooh and she's French too!" Parker smiled.

"Uh, no, Parker, she's British. Not French." Nate corrected with a shake of his head.

"Yeah, whatever. They all sound the same to me anyhow." Parker shrugged her shoulders. "Anyways, I'm meeting up with Tara and Jane at Jordan's. You two wanna come with?"

"No, no we're okay. No need to meet the whole crew today." Nate kindly declined.

"The whole crew? It's just me, Tara and Jane." Parker quipped.

_"Yeah too much crazy for Sophie in one day." _ Nate thought to himself. "Why isn't Maura & Maggie gonna be there?" Nate asked once he realized Maura's & Maggie's names were not mentioned.

"Uh, Maggie, pssh... obvious reasons. I mean, Jane hates her so. That wouldn't be good. Then Maura went overseas with her mom to Bulgaria or somewhere like that." Parker replied as she stared at Nate. "So are you two gonna come?"

"Eh, I don't think so Parker." Nate said with a shake of his head.

"Why not? I think it'd be fun to meet them." Sophie smiled. Earlier she wasn't too fond of the idea of meeting his friends but now after meeting Parker, she wanted to meet the others too. Well at least two of the others.

"See? Even your girlfriend thinks it's a good idea Nate." Parker said with a huge smile.

Nate glared at her and shook his head. "She's not my girlfriend Parker."

"Yeah whatever. We can take my car!" Parker said, not taking no for an answer and pulling Sophie towards the parking lot, Nate following along behind them.

"Uh Parker, you don't have a license, let alone a permit!" Nate reminded her.

"Yeah well it doesn't mean I don't know how to drive!" Parker squealed as she ran towards a dark blue car.

_"Oh God, please do not let us get killed, or worse pulled over by the police and taken into custody."_ Nate thought to himself. This would be an interesting day.

**A/N: Yes this chapter was a bit longer than the others but hopefully it wasn't too much longer. I hope that you all enjoyed this one! Thanks for sticking with me guys! Reviews are like cookies for me! I love them! Also, in case you didn't know, Shawn Michaels is a WWE Hall Of Famer. He's a former wrestler but he's still very much involved in the WWE. And of course, Jane Rizzoli & Maura Isles are Rizzoli & Isles. This would be the reason for the disclaimer in the beginning =)**


	8. Chapter 8

Ch.8

Nate let out a heavy sigh of relief as the trio pulled up to Jordan's. Jordan's was a dance club/bar/grill. It was owned by eighteen year old senior, Jordan Bennett. It was previously owned by Jordan's father, Alexander, but once Jordan turned eighteen, his father turned it over to him. Teenagers; aged from 13 up to 19; were allowed to hang out at the club until eleven on weekdays and midnight on the weekends. This was due to the fact that many adults also attended the club and frequented the bar & dance part of the club. The teenagers were only allowed to be on the dance floor and in the restaurant area.

Nate ran his fingers through his short brown hair as he led Sophie towards the entrance; Parker had already run inside to great Tara and Jane.

Before they went inside, Nate gently grabbed Sophie's arm to get her attention. "Hey, um, just a fair warning; Jane & Tara are a bit… crazy & they've pretty blunt with their opinions."

Sophie smiled at him and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. It was really cute & sweet how protective he was of her. He didn't want her to be hurt by anything his friends said or did. But, Sophie dealt with plenty of people that were insane before. She was sure she could deal with his friends. "Don't worry Nate. I don't think it's anything I can't handle." She said before she placed a kiss on his cheek and walked inside the club.

Nate stared after her, clearly stunned by the kiss on his cheek. He lifted his hand and touched his cheek, still feeling the tingling from her lips. Nate quickly shook off the feeling though. If Tara or Jane got an inkling he was acting off, they'd call him on it. So he took a deep breath before following Sophie into the club. He quickly spotted Parker standing at the booth next to Sophie, talking to Tara and Jane.

Tara had long blonde hair and she was about 5'8. Jane was about the same height but she had raven black hair. Both were sipping on what Nate assumed and secretly hoped was coke.

"Oh boy." Nate said to himself. It would be him, one male, and four women. Four women with four different personalities and very different opinions on him & everything else. There was no doubt in Nate's mind that he & Sophie would also be the topic of conversation at one point during the day. That was another thing Nate didn't quite understand; why in the hell did these girls like to go out to places so damn early in the day? It was only pushing 1 pm.

Shaking his head, Nate slowly walked over to the quartet; who all seemed to be getting along just fine. Nate quietly approached the table & smiled at Sophie who noticed his arrival. She was laughing at something Tara had said; he wouldn't doubt if it was something she had said about him.

"Ah, speak of the devil." Tara jested as her eyes fell on Nate. "Hello there Nathan. So glad you could join us. Oh, and thank you so much, by the way, for not calling us to let us know that you were back." Tara nagged, sending Nate a sort of playful glare.

"Yeah, and for not telling us that you'd be bringing back a very beautiful young girl." Jane interjected as she sent Nate a death glare, her eyes dark with exaggerated anger.

"Yeah, yeah I get it. You're all mad at me because I didn't call you all to let you know I was home. Jeez, I didn't realize I had so many people to report to. I thought I only had one mother and father." Nate replied with a shake of his head. His eyes met Sophie's once again and he gave her a warm smile.

Tara noticed this and decided to tease him for it. "Aw, look Janey; he's smitten with her already!" Tara teased Nate. She then started to make kissing noises at him then busted into a fit of giggles.

Nate turned away from the girls quickly to hide his reddening cheeks, but he wasn't fast enough because Sophie noticed his face flush in embarrassment before he could hide it.

"Aw Tara, you've embarrassed him." Sophie laughed as she placed a hand on Nate's shoulder. She found it rather cute how embarrassed he was.

Tara laughed and shook her head at the brown haired boy. "Well it wouldn't be the first time I've embarrassed him. Especially in front of a girl he liked. And I can assure you that it will not be the last time I embarrass him." Tara smirked as she gave Jane a high five.

"Ugh, God I swear, you women are going to be the death of me." Nate said as he rubbed his forehead. He swore that Tara and Jane loved to embarrass him; not only in front of girls he'd taken a liking to but they'd embarrass him in front of anyone, anytime, anywhere.

Sophie looked at Nate and pretended to be upset by his words. "Huh? Why me? What'd I do to make you feel like I'll be the death of you?" Sophie pouted as she poked out her bottom lip.

"What? Oh, no! Not you, Soph, I meant them three." Nate assured as he gestured towards Parker, Tara, and Jane.

"But you didn't say 'you three' you said 'you women', which implied that you meant all of us." Sophie recalled as she tilted her head at Nate sadly.

Nate sighed heavily & continued to rub his head. "Yes, I know, but I didn't mean you. You're fine. Believe me. You do not drive me completely insane." Nate reassured as he patted Sophie's knee.

Parked pursed her lips as she went over Nate's words in her head. "So wait, she does drive you just a little bit insane then?" Parker piped up.

Nate turned his head towards Parker and squinted his eyes at her. "Huh, what?"

"Well, I mean, you said that she doesn't drive you _completely_ insane, so wouldn't that mean that she does drive you insane?" Parker asked as she sipped on her drink from a straw.

All eyes were on Nate as the girls waited patiently for his answer.

Nate shook his head at Parker, confused by her question. He then looked at Sophie, who was now giving him sad puppy dog eyes. "What? No! No! That's not what I said, Parker and that's not what I meant! She doesn't- Sophie you do not drive me insane at all. Not even a little bit." Nate repeated then he glared at Parker. "I didn't say anything like that Parker. You three are mixing up my words1" Nate cursed, ready to pull his hair out. Those three really knew how to push his buttons & they certainly liked doing it too.

Tara could see that Nate was beginning to get upset so she waved off the two girls on either side of her as if to tell them to drop it. "Okay, okay. Relax Nate. It's just a little friendly banter." Tara said as she motioned to the two seats across from her. "Why don't you and Sophie take a seat? I ordered a large cheese pizza and breadsticks so we can all have lunch together." Tara informed as she looked around the club for their waiter.

Nate nodded his head as he & Sophie sat down in the hard chairs. "Yeah, that's great. Hey listen, Eliot isn't working…" Before Nate could finish his question, he felt a hard slap on his back.

"Hey Nate! What's goin' on man?" Eliot asked as he placed the pizza down on the table then pushed his medium length brown hair back. "I didn't know you were back from Prague. You didn't call." Eliot recalled, not noticing that there was another young woman at the table.

Nate nodded his head and licked his dry lips. "Yeah, I've been hearing that a lot today. Sorry I didn't call any of you all, I've just had a lot going on." Nate replied with a small smile.

"Yeah Eli, and look what he brought back." Tara said as she motioned towards Sophie.

Eliot looked at her, clearly confused, then he followed her gaze & his eyes fell on a young brunette woman that was sitting next to Nate. Eliot's eyes widened and he quickly wiped his hands off before stretching out his hand. "Hey there darlin'. Sorry I didn't notice ya there." Eliot said with his country accent. "I'm Eliot Spencer." Eliot introduced as the girl shook his hand.

"Hello, I'm Sophie." Sophie replied, giving Eliot her amazing smile that Nate had grown to love.

Eliot's eyes went wide again as he looked at Nate. "British too, huh? Man you know how I love them girls with an accent." Eliot joked as he elbowed Nate in his shoulder. "Ah, well guys, I gotta get back to work. Richie is already on my ass about getting food out on time." Eliot explained with a roll of his eyes. "But it was real nice meetin' ya darlin'." Eliot said with a smile as he took Sophie's hand on placed a kiss on top of it.

"Alrighty, well be good Eliot! Do not get too pissed off to where you get your ass fired again!" Tara called after him but Eliot just waved her off. She shook her head and looked at Nate, who if she wasn't mistaken, looked a little jealous. She let it slide though as she stayed on topic. "I swear, if he loses this job, his step dad will kick him out for sure this time."

"Yeah, I know. Hopefully he won't do anything stupid though." Nate replied with a shake of his head. He took in deep breath then stood up from the table. "I'm gonna go get me & Soph a soda. Um, what do you like to drink?" Nate asked as he looked at Sophie.

Sophie pursed her lips and pondered over all the options. She quickly settled with a diet Pepsi. "A diet Pepsi is fine. Thank you Nate." Sophie smiled. Nate just nodded his head in response and walked off.

As he left, Tara couldn't help but notice the way that Sophie stared after him. She had to smile at that little fact. It appeared to her that they were both smitten with each other. It was possible though that neither of them knew how the other felt.

"So, Sophie, what brought you over to lovely America?" Tara asked with a sly grin.

Sophie bit down on her bottom lip. She didn't want to say too much about the situation but she didn't want to lie to Nate's friends either. After all, if they were his friends, it was more than likely that she'd be seeing more of them and would have to remember what lies she told them. So she just stuck with half the truth.

"Um, Nate brought me here actually." Sophie finally answered. Her eyes didn't quite meet Tara's though as she answered. It wasn't the whole truth but it wasn't a lie either. But she wasn't too sure if Tara could read people as easily as she could. Besides, Nate really did bring her over to America, with the help of his parents of course.

But, Tara being Tara had totally misinterpreted the whole thing. "That's so cute! So like, did you two do the whole online dating thing or did you two meet in Prague and just connected? Nate never tells us anything that happens overseas so we're left in the dark about a lot of things." Tara laughed as she took another sip of her coke.

Sophie blinked her eyes at Tara several times, confused by her question. She was curious as to how in the world Tara got that they were dating out of 'Nate brought me here'. Before Sophie could even answer, Nate came back to the table and sat the drinks down on the table.

"There you go Soph." Nate smiled as rubbed her knee as he sat down. "Ah, so what'd I miss?" Nate asked as he raised his glass to take a drink of his Pepsi Cherry. He had wanted something to drink ever since he & Sophie had left the park but he hadn't had the opportunity to do so.

Tara licked the coke from her lips before she answered. "Oh, I just asked Sophie how you two got together."

Nate spit out his drink and looked in Tara in shock. "Uh, what?"

Tara threw her hand up in defense as Nate glared at her. "What? I was just curious! It's not like you ever tell us anything anyhow. All I asked was what brought her over here and she said you. I was just wondering if you two were chatting it up online first or if you two just met each other out of the blue & got together." Tara replied innocently.

Nate laughed nervously and looked over at Sophie, who looked just as nervous as he felt. "Uh, yeah… girls, Sophie and I are not dating." Nate said, pointing to him and Sophie.

Tara blinked her eyes at him and leaned across the table. "Nate, there's no need to lie to us. We're your friends." Tara reminded him.

Before Nate could reply, Jane interjected, "Yeah! And plus she's cute! And really nice! It's a good thing you've got someone again!"

"Girls…" Nate tried but he was cut off by Parker.

"Yeah 'cause you and Maggie weren't really cute together." Parker spoke up.

Nate rubbed his temples and fought the urge to yell. "Girls, really now…"

"Seriously! Maggie's like a damn cow. Plus, everyone knows that she has the hot's for James!" Jane quipped as she rolled her eyes at the thought of the deranged blonde.

"Girls." Nate said again this time a little louder but not one of them paid him any mind. Sophie just sat there next to him taking in the whole scene but she didn't know of what to say or do.

"Hey Jane! That isn't nice at all. Maggie is not a cow." Tara defended her little blonde friend. She didn't understand why Jane loathed her so much.

"Oh please! I bet you that if you asked James if whenever he had sex with her if she moaned during, he would say 'No, the bloody bitch mooed the whole time!'" Jane argued.

Feeling yet another headache coming on at the girls' insane argument, Nate stood up and grabbed Sophie's hand, and then she stood up as well. "Yeah, I think we're going to go and sit at another booth or something."

"What, why?" "No." "Nateee." They trio whined at the same time as they looked at Nate.

"You three are driving me nuts with all this damn nonsense. And I'm sure that it's bothering Sophie too." Nate said then looked at Sophie who just shrugged her shoulders. "Okay, it's just me then that you're driving crazy."

"Okay, come on Nate, sit back down. We'll behave I promise." Tara pleaded as she motioned towards his seat.

Nate sighed and thought about it for a moment. He shrugged his shoulders and just sat back down next to Sophie.

"Okay good. Good. Now, back to my previous question before it got out of hand; how did you two get together?" Tara asked as she took a sip of her coke.

"Jesus Christ, seriously? We really are not dating! Believe me, I would tell you if we were but we're not." Nate huffed.

"Not yet anyhow." Tara muttered under her breath but apparently Nate had heard her because he sent her a death glare.

Just then the music changed to Zedd's "Clarity" and Sophie's eyes lit up. "Oh my goodness! I love this song!" She smiled widely and looked at Nate. "Oh Nate, would you be so kind to dance with me? Please?" Sophie asked, peering into Nate's deep blue orbs.

Nate felt his breath hitch in his throat as his eyes locked with Sophie's. He had just got done convincing the girls that he & Sophie were not together, if he danced with Sophie, they'd tease him and bug him about it mercilessly. But he found that he could never say no to Sophie. "Yeah sure. But just one song, okay? I'm not that good of a dancer."

Sophie smiled widely and leaned over to kiss Nate on his cheek once more before she grabbed his hand and pulled him to the dance floor.

Tara's lips turned into a smirk as she watched the pair start to dance together. "Oh yeah. If they aren't dating now, they definitely will be soon."

"Mm hmm. I agree." Jane said as she stuffed the pizza in her face.

Tara looked at her disgusted as Jane at her food. She hated it whenever Jane would eat and talk with her mouth full.

"I give it a week." Parker said as she wiggled her eyebrows.

"Mm, I say two weeks." Jane said with her mouth still full.

Tara pursed her lips as she watched the two of them dance together. She couldn't help but notice the gentle way Nate touched Sophie, or the way his blue eyes twinkled when he looked at her. And then there was the way that Sophie would stare at him, though he wasn't aware of it, along with the subtle touches here & there that they both gave each other. Yeah, there were definitely smitten with one another.

"I give it four days tops." Tara finally replied as she lifted her coke to her lips, ignoring the questioning glances from the other two girls. She knew that neither of them saw what she did whenever she looked at Nate & Sophie. It was written all over their faces about how they felt about each other. They just couldn't see it, and apparently, neither did Jane or Parker. As Tara continued to watch them dance, she saw how Sophie rested her head in the crook of Nate's neck.

"Oh yeah. Four days or less." Tara smiled devilishly. She had been right about when Nate and Maggie had gotten together and when they had broken up. She was sure that she'd be right about Nate and Sophie as well.

*Meanwhile in Russia – Vanderbilt Residence*

Malachi paced back and forth in his office as he waited for some kind of information. It had been four days already since he had lost his daughter and he was beginning to get very angry. If someone didn't find something soon, they'd be killed.

"Sir, I hacked into the train station's security feed. I was able to go back four days to the time whenever you lost your daughter. I think you may want to look at this." A young American man by the name of Colin Mason informed his new boss. Malachi sauntered over towards Colin and he felt himself stiffen up, but he gave no indication that he was intimidated by the 6'3 man.

Malachi leaned across the long wooden desk and stared at the laptop; eager to see what his new hacker had been able to find for him. All the other hackers Malachi had previously hired, then fired, were incompetent and weren't able to find anything as to where his fifteen year old daughter could be. Colin Mason was proving to be a bit useful. He would become even more useful if he had found something worthwhile. Plus, Colin had plenty of motivation. Malachi had taken his younger sister, Katherine, hostage to insure that Colin would help him. If Colin were to prove himself useful, Katherine would be set free. At least, that's what he told Colin.

"Show me what you found." Malachi commanded in a low, menacing voice.

Colin swallowed thickly then clicked on the file he downloaded.

A video appeared on the screen and Malachi trained his eyes on his daughter as she ran from him. It still made his blood boil every time he thought about how she deceived him. Well, once he found his Lara, the little bitch would regret ever running from him. His eyes still trained on Lara, he saw something that surprised him. A young boy; probably around Lara's age; had grabbed Lara and pulled her onto the departing train. No wonder Malachi has lost sight of his Lara so quickly. Some little bastard attempting to make a name for himself had taken his daughter onto the train, traveling to wherever they were now.

"Alright; who in the bloody hell is that boy?! And where are his parents? There isn't any way he was traveling alone! Is there any way you can find out where the train was headed?" Malachi asked in a rage.

Colin quickly pulled up the other footage he found but decided to wait until he could tell his boss what he found before he played it. "Well, the train went to the airport. I was able to hack into the airport security feed also and I found your daughter and the boy. They were with two other adults who I am assuming were his parents. They were rushing to board a flight to Paris." Colin answered, his voice slightly shaken with fear.

Malachi was so angry he could almost feel the steam coming off of him. "Can you play the footage for me? I want to see his parents." Malachi sneered. His gut was telling him that there was something oddly familiar about the young boy.

As Colin clicked play on the video, Malachi once again trained his eyes on the screen. He quickly recognized his daughter's dark brown hair in the sea of people. But she wasn't alone. Standing next to her was the young boy. Not too far ahead of them both were the boys' parents. Malachi strained to see the mans' face on the screen but the camera was too far away. "Colin, could you zoom in on that man there?" Malachi asked as he pointed to the man.

Colin quickly did as he was told and Malachi's eyes widened. Then a devilish smile appeared on his face, making him look even more evil. "Well well, we meet again Mr. Jimmy." Malachi said as he stared at the image of one Jimmy Ford.

**A/N: Okay, so this was chapter 8! I hope you all enjoyed it! There's more drama to come but how soon will it come? Will Malachi be able to trace where Jimmy took Sophie/Lara? Will Jimmy find out that Malachi now knows it was him who took Sophie/Lara? Will Sophie & Nate get together?**

**Reviews please and thanks! And I hope that you all are still enjoying this story! Thanks for sticking with me!**


	9. Chapter 9

Ch.9

It was 1:49 in the morning. Sophie lay in the chaise, still wide awake. She couldn't seem to fall asleep. She believed it to be because of the exciting & fun day that she & Nate had. But deep down, she knew it was because she was not able to sleep in the same bed with Nate. Jenny had brought her in a pillow and blanket to use, so Sophie & Nate both assumed that she knew they had slept together the previous evening. Neither of them wanted to mention anything to her though; it would just make matters worse, even though they didn't do anything.

Sophie heard Nate's light snoring, so she knew he was asleep. It appeared he didn't have any problem sleeping on his own. She, however, didn't like sleeping alone; that was when her nightmares would come. So instead of sleep, she lay on the chaise and stared at the pale blue wall; going over the day's events in her head.

They left the club shortly after they had danced together; Sophie knew it was mostly due to the fact that he didn't want to be teased by his crazy girl friends and she couldn't blame him. The girls had teased them both most of the time they were there. After they left the club, Nate took Sophie to a small, family owned café to get something to eat. It was rather nice. There, she was able to meet a friend of Nate's who went by Hardison. He was quite funny and he was really nice. He was the only one of Nate's friends who didn't assume they were dating.

Once they were finished at the café, Nate took her down to Boston Harbor. The water looked beautiful as the waves crashed into the rocks. And then, Nate had ruined the moment and pushed Sophie into the water. Sophie shook her head as she smiled despite herself. She was only able to stay mad at Nate for a few moments because he too had gotten into the cool water. Plus, he looked incredibly adorable with his wet hair slicked back. He had also helped to teach her how to swim, since she was never really taught how to do so. Her older brother had tried to teach her once but then he left her in the pool by herself for a while and she almost drowned, so she didn't try to learn again until today.

Since they were both soaking wet after they got out of the water, they had to dry out at the boat docks. Even then it was hard because they both kept on splashing one another with water. Sophie laughed lightly to herself as she remembered the look on Nate's face after she got revenge on him & pushed him into the water after he completely dried off.

As Sophie lay on the chaise, she saw a bright light come from the bay window. She raised an eyebrow, wondering what on earth it could have been. She started to get up out of the chaise to look out the window but jumped back onto it as she heard a loud crash of thunder.

_"Oh great. A bloody thunderstorm." _Sophie thought to herself. She wrapped her purple, silk blanket around herself and laid her head under the pillow to try to block out the thunder. She hated thunderstorms; they brought back terrible memories that she wanted so badly to forget. Clenching her eyes shut, Sophie tried to block the images that were emerging from the back of her head. But she knew it was no use. Once she heard the thunder, images of her father hovering over her flashed before her eyes.

Sophie quickly threw the blanket off of her and stood up from the chaise, her breath heavy and hot tears stinging her eyes. She couldn't deal with it; not now, not ever again. She just wanted to forget it all and she couldn't; she couldn't wash away those horrible memories no matter how hard she tried.

Swallowing thickly, Sophie wrapped her arms around herself and looked around Nate's bedroom. Her eyes fell on Nate, who was oblivious that she was still awake & was staring at him. Sophie licked her dry lips and grabbed her blanket and pillow. She softly laid her pillow down next to Nate's & laid down next to him, covering herself with her blanket. Taking in a deep breath, she slowly closed her eyes as she took in his scent. Almost instantly, she could feel her heart rate slow to its normal pace. But still, once she closed her eyes and tried to drift off to sleep, more images of her father came.

Her eyes shot open and immediately went to Nate. Last night was much easier to sleep; what had been different? Then it hit her; she had been sleeping on Nate last night. That was the difference. But it wasn't as if she could just do it again. More than likely it would wake Nate up if she tried to sleep on him. Last night, they had accidentally fallen asleep like that. Tonight, he fell asleep on his bed, and she had laid wide awake on the chaise.

Sophie didn't want to go to sleep; not really. She didn't want to have any nightmares. So she gently pushed herself back up on the bed and threw her feet off the side of the bed. Sophie quietly made her way to the bedroom door and opened it as quietly as she could. Before she left, she looked back at Nate to make for sure she didn't wake him up. Once Sophie was sure that he was still asleep, she crept out to the hallway and down the stairs.

It was pitch black in the living room except for the occasional flash of lightning. Sophie rubbed her bare arms as she tip toed into the kitchen. She opened up one of the cabinets to grab a glass, and then she went to the fridge to pour her a cup of milk. Drinking milk always seemed to help her drift off to sleep, though she wasn't exactly sure why that was. Once she finished her milk, she sat her cup in the sink and began to clean it up.

Halfway through cleaning her glass, Sophie made the mistake to look up and out the window as lightning flashed. And that's when she saw him; her father. Her heart dropped and so did the glass she held in her hand. Sophie quickly backed away from the sink and bolted up the stairs and into Nate's bedroom.

Sophie ran to Nate's bed and shook Nate frantically. "Nate! Wake up! Please wake up!" But it was to no avail, he wouldn't wake. Angry, Sophie began to slap his face, but he still wouldn't wake. "Nate! Please wake up! My father…" Before she could finish, Sophie looked at her hand; it was soaked with blood. As she looked back at Nate, she noticed that he was bleeding from his chest.

Sophie gasped and backed away until she hit the wall; no wait, that wasn't a wall. She felt behind her and realized it was a person. Slowly, Sophie turned around, only to face the one person she was scared to see; her father.

"Hello my dearest, Lara." Malachi said menacingly.

Sophie gasped and jumped back, clenching her chest. Her eyes fluttered and he was gone; her father was gone. She looked around the room frantically and realized that it was all just a dream. Her father wasn't really there; she had fallen asleep on the chaise at some point. Sophie rubbed her forehead and realized she was sweating. That dream had scared her half to death.

Thinking of death, she immediately thought of Nate and how he had bled to death in her dream. Sophie quickly jumped up from the chaise and ran over to Nate. She placed her hand on his chest and noticed that his heart was indeed still beating, and there wasn't any blood anywhere. But just to be sure, Sophie shook Nate lightly. Nate's eyes popped open and he stared at her.

"Sophie, what's wrong?" Nate asked groggily as he pushed himself up on his bed. He rubbed his tired eyes as he looked at his friend. She looked scared half to death. Before he could say or do anything else, he felt Sophie's arms wrap around him.

"Oh my God, Nate, you're really okay!" Sophie cried. She clenched onto his shirt, thankful that he was alive and okay. She felt the tears sting her eyes and they fell onto Nate's shirt.

Confused, Nate rubbed Sophie's back gently until she was ready to talk to him. Moments later, Sophie pulled back and sniffed.

"I'm sorry I just… I had a horrible dream." Sophie quietly confessed.

Nate let out a deep breath as he looked at her. Nate opened up his arms and Sophie quickly fell against his chest. He wrapped his arms gently around her as her head rested on his chest. "It'll be alright, Soph. You can sleep right here with me, okay?" Nate said as he placed a kiss in her hair.

"But, what if your mother comes in and sees us like this?" Sophie asked as she played with a button on Nate's blue shirt.

Nate shrugged his shoulders. "I couldn't care less about that right now. I just wanna make sure you're okay." Nate replied as he ran his fingers up and down her back. And it was the truth. He could care less about what his mother had to say about Sophie sleeping with him. He wasn't going to leave her by herself so she would have nightmares. He wasn't that cruel. If sleeping with him would help Sophie, then that's how it would be. If his mother couldn't understand that, then too bad.

Sophie sniffed and wiped the tears that were in her eyes. "I just don't want her to be mad at you."

"Eh, it's nothing I can't handle. Besides, there's not much she can do anyhow. Not until you get your room anyhow." Nate replied sadly. That is the moment he dreads; the day when his father finally gets Sophie's bedroom added on. That would be the moment when his mother wouldn't allow either of them to be alone together. But as of right now, since there were only two bedrooms, she had no choice.

"I don't think I want my own room anymore." Sophie mumbled but Nate heard her clearly.

"I know. But I'm not sure how well that'd go over with my parents." Nate said as he rested his chin on Sophie's head. "They'd probably be pissed or just say no."

Sophie bit down on her bottom lip as she fought back the tears. She didn't want to think about not being able to share a room with Nate. He kept her sane. If she had her own room, she'd have too much time alone to think and that's one thing she didn't want to do. "Do we have to ask them? I mean, I can still get a room that way I can take my clothes and shoes and put them into my own closet that way you can have yours back."

Nate smiled and replied sarcastically, "Yes! Thank God! Lord knows that I'm sick of all your junk in there." Sophie laughed lightly and Nate grinned wider. That's what he wanted; he wanted her to laugh. He loved her laugh. "Now, what do you mean about asking them?" Nate asked, confused.

"Well, I mean… why can't I just sleep in here with you and spend time with you just because I have my own room?" Sophie asked.

"Ugh, because you'll have your own bed and I do _not_ want your ass in here every night." Nate teased.

"Nate, I'm being serious. I really do not want to sleep by myself." Sophie confessed softly as she played with the hem of his shirt. She hoped Nate wouldn't be mad and wouldn't think of her as an overbearing person. She just really needed him.

Nate took in a deep breath as he caressed her shoulder. "Soph, I'm only teasing. I wouldn't mind it at all if you slept in here. That way I'll have my own personal heater." Nate joked, earning a poke from Sophie.

"I'm not that hot, Nate." Sophie said with a shake of her head.

"So wait, you think you're a little hot? A little conceited aren't we Miss Sophie?" Nate teased as he wiggled his eyebrows.

Sophie lightly slapped his arm. "I'm not conceited, you ass."

Nate fake gasped and put his hand up to his mouth. "You said ass, awwww. I'm telling on you Sophie." Nate teased.

Sophie shook her head and lifted her head to look up at him. "Do not even pretend you do not curse, Mr. Ford. You curse quite a lot more than I do." Sophie quipped as she poked him in his side.

"Yeah but I've never heard such words coming out of a young Princesses mouth." Nate countered then tickled Sophie's side, making her squeal.

"Ah! I told you not to tickle me! I cannot control my laughter!" Sophie laughed, slapping at Nate's hands.

"What like this?" Nate asked as he tickled her again, making her laugh. Nate continued to tickle her until he got her on her back. "So, now what? I win right? I mean, I got the princess of England to submit to me."

Sophie stuck her tongue out at him and struggled to get out of his grasp. "Nate, I'm gonna bite you if you do not get off of me." Sophie warned as she tried to pull her hand free.

"Please. Why would you do that? You'd only be infecting yourself with rabies." Nate replied, earning a glare from Sophie.

"What?"

"Yeah, I thought I told you. We used to have a dog; a stray. His name was Rufus. We had to get rid of him because he bit me and gave me rabies. I got the shot but it could come back." Nate said seriously before busting out laughing. "I'm only kidding. I'm terrible, sorry, that was a bad joke."

"Yes, it really was." Sophie said with a laugh despite herself. She couldn't help it though. Nate's laughter was so infectious. Her chocolate brown eyes met his blue eyes and she felt like her breath had been taken away. The moon's light against his face made his eyes look so beautiful.

Feeling Nate's grasp loosen around her wrist, she brought her hand up to caress his cheek. Swallowing thickly, she pulled his face to hers and kissed him lightly. She pulled away slightly to see if he would back away. When he didn't, she decided to kiss him again. Sophie felt Nate's hand curl in her hair as he deepened the kiss.

Nate broke away for a moment to catch his breath before pulling his hand from Sophie's hair to caress her face. _"God, you're so beautiful."_ Was what Nate wanted to say but he decided against it.

Sophie rubbed her face against the warmth of Nate's hand as her eyes stayed connected with his. She wasn't at all sure what was going on between her and Nate but she knew she was powerless to stop it. Wanting to break the silence, Sophie said "You know, maybe we should change up this position here, and that way if your mom comes in, it won't be too bad."

Nate laughed and nodded his head, knowing Sophie was right. He rolled over on his side and Sophie did the same. He smiled warmly at her as he brought his hand back up to rub her face. He felt Sophie let out a content breath and saw her close her deep brown eyes. "You okay, Soph?" Nate asked.

Sophie nodded her head and opened her eyes to look at him. He really was handsome, especially in the pale moonlight. Sophie lifted herself up to rest her elbow on the bed so she could rest her head on her hand. "Are you upset with me?" Sophie asked out of the blue.

Nate blinked his eyes at her question. "Why would I be upset with you Soph?" Nate asked.

"Because I kissed you." Sophie replied, her eyes falling from his face and her head drooped.

Nate grabbed her chin and lifted it up so she was looking back at him. "I kissed you back didn't I? I'm still here." Nate pointed out.

Sophie let out a soft sigh as her eyes met his again. "I just… I don't know what came over me or made me do it… But I know I wanted to. Is that odd?"

Nate laughed lightly and shook his head. "No… not at all."

Sophie bit down on her bottom lip as she thought about her next question, "Is it bad I want to do it again?" Sophie asked quietly.

Nate swallowed thickly as he gazed into her brown orbs. He had wanted to kiss her again too, but he feared that she would freak out and run. But she just now admitted she wanted it again too. Nate took that as his cue and leaned closer to her and pressed his lips against hers. Sophie wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her.

This time it was Sophie to break the kiss. She gave Nate one final peck before resting her head against his chest. "Good night, Nathan." She said with a smile.

Nate laughed to himself and licked his wet lips. "Goodnight Soph." He replied as he wrapped her in his arms again. He let his hand rest on her arm as he started to rub her arm up and down. It seemed to have the right effect because not long after, Sophie was sound asleep. Nate sighed lightly as he looked down at the brunette. "You have no idea the affect you have on me Sophie. You drive me crazy but not in a bad way. You make me dizzy, lightheaded even. I don't know what I'm doing with you but I trust it. I won't hurt you Sophie, I promise you that. And I'll do everything in the world to protect you." Nate promised as he kissed the top of Sophie's head. He would go to the moon and back for her and he knew that. He just hoped that everything wouldn't move too fast and it would all fall into place at the right time.

**A/N: Yeahh, so a little freak out in the beginning there huh? Lol I love doing that. At first I wasn't going to make it go that far, but what the hell. Might as well have some fun. Anyhow, I hope you all liked this chapter! Hopefully the kissing wasn't too much. I don't think so but I'm not the reviewer, just the author. But I do tend to reread my stuff before I post it and I reread it as a reviewer so… yeah. Thanks for still sticking with me guys! I appreciate it! As always, reviews are welcome! I love hearing what you guys think! =D**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Yeah just wanted you all to know that there may be a trigger in here for some of you. So, just be warned. There is talk about rape in this chapter. Fair warning.**

Ch. 10

Nate's eyes fluttered open the next morning. He noticed that Sophie was asleep right on top of him. Nate shook his head and laughed silently to himself. He honestly did not understand how she had ended up like that. Not wanting to come up with all the different possibilities of how she did, Nate moved his hand up to rest on the small of Sophie's back.

He felt his stomach rumble and he pursed his lips. He was rather hungry, but he didn't want to wake Sophie up just yet. Sometime during the night, she had awakened and changed from her pj's to Nate's dark blue button down shirt and a black pair of short shorts. So Nate just laid there in the bed and traced small circles on Sophie's back.

Apparently the sudden contact disturbed Sophie a bit because she stirred in her sleep. And when she did, she accidentally rubbed herself against Nate's… well… crotch.

Nate's eyes went wide and his breath hitched his throat. He, being a virgin, had never experienced anything even remotely close to sex, including making out & foreplay, so the feelings that came over him were very new to him. Nate tried to squirm out from underneath her, but it proved no use. Instead, she stirred again in her sleep and rubbed against Nate again.

"Jesus." Nate cursed lightly, careful not to wake Sophie. He clenched his eyes shut and took in a deep breath. _"She's gonna be the death of me."_ Nate thought to himself. Seeing no other way to get out of his current predicament without waking up Sophie, Nate pulled himself from under her & rolled out of the bed and dropped onto the floor.

Sophie immediately lifted her head up and reached out for Nate, who she assumed, was still next to her. "Nate?" Sophie called out tiredly, her eyes still closed.

Nate jumped up and gave her a quick smile. "Hey Soph. I'm okay, just gonna go to the bathroom." Nate replied hurriedly. He started for the bathroom but Sophie grabbed onto the hem of his shirt, stopping him.

"Nateee…" Sophie whined as she tried to pull Nate back onto the bed. She didn't want to be up this early, she was still very sleep but she couldn't sleep without Nate.

"Soph, I'm just gonna jump in the shower really quick." Nate informed her as he pulled away from her and practically ran into the bathroom.

Sophie pouted out her bottom lip and rubbed her tired eyes. Pushing herself up on the bed, Sophie let out a long yawn and stretched her arms above her head, the hem of Nate's shirt raising and showing her torso. She had put it on earlier that morning because she had woke up in the night, drenched in sweat.

Sophie stood up from the bed and stretched again. She really didn't feel like changing out of Nate's shirt so she just sat at the edge of the bed and decided for Nate to emerge from the bathroom.

When Nate finally did come from the bathroom, he was only wearing a towel around his waist.

Sophie felt her face flush with heat as she stared at him. He looked sexy as hell!

Nate nervously ran his fingers through his wet hair as he walked to his dresser. He could feel Sophie's eyes on him. "Yeah um, I kinda forgot my clothes and stuff." Nate explained, not looking back at Sophie.

Sophie licked her suddenly dry lips as she stared at him. His muscle definition was amazing. He was breathtakingly gorgeous! _"Maybe he should forget his clothes more often." _ Sophie thought to herself. But she quickly shook the thought from her head. Nate was her friend, she shouldn't be thinking of him like that, but she found that she just couldn't stop herself. Plus she had to admit, she was starting to grow feelings for Nate. She smiled lightly as she saw Nate rummage through his drawer. He was adorable when he was nervous.

Nate quickly pulled out a pair of boxers, basketball shorts and a black tank top. He then gave Sophie a nervous smile then ran into the bathroom.

Sophie laughed silently and shook her head. He really was adorable. Standing up from her spot on the bed, Sophie wandered over to the large bay window to look out it. It was such a beautiful day yesterday, and then now today it was dark & gloomy. Sophie shook her head as the rain continued to pour down outside. It looked like she and Nate would be spending the day together inside.

Letting out a soft sigh, Sophie pulled her knees to her chest as she watched the rain fall. Back at her old home in England, she would sit and watch the rain fall. It helped her to cope with all the terrible things that were going on in her life. She remembered sitting at her window as she watched her older sister Elizabeth leave from home.

Sophie sighed sadly as the thought of her older sister. She was probably off living in Australia now. It was a couple months after Sophie's 11th birthday that Elizabeth left. Elizabeth was only 13 at the time, but she contacted her mother's brother and he took her from the home while their father was gone. Elizabeth left that day, and she left Sophie alone, even though she knew of the horrors that he father would put her through.

Sophie felt wet tears prick her eyes and she wiped them away quickly. She hated feeling so weak. But that is what he father had done to her. He made her broken, fragile, and weak.

Sophie jumped as someone wrapped their arms around her waist. When she turned around, she saw that it was Nate & she let out a calming breath.

"You scared the hell outta me." Sophie laughed slightly as she clutched her chest as if to slow her heart rate.

Nate smiled at her apologetically. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to startle you." Nate apologized as he sat behind her. Sophie immediately leaned back against his chest. "You okay, Sophie?" Nate asked worriedly. He had noticed her somber expression as he came out of the bathroom. He suspected that she was thinking about her life before she came here.

Sophie licked her lips as she stared out the window. "Yeah, I am okay. I'm just thinking."

Nate bit down on his bottom lip before he leaned down to rest his chin on her right shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it?" Nate offered as he rubbed her arm. It was unusually cool. Her skin was normally warm and soft.

Letting out a deep breath, Sophie thought about Nate's question for a moment. She knew that it would probably help her out a lot to talk to someone about everything that had happened. But she also didn't want to burden Nate with all of her problems.

As if to read her mind, Nate said "You can tell me Sophie. It wouldn't be a burden on me. I just want to help you, and I know that talking about it will help. If you hold it all in, it'll just tear you down even more."

Sophie lifted her hand to rub her head as her eyes darted frantically around the room, desperate to find an answer as to what she should do. She knew that Nate was right; she did need to talk to someone.

With her mind made up, she said "I'll only tell you if you promise me that you will listen… and that you will not get angry." Sophie looked back at Nate and could see that he was not too willing to stay calm throughout the whole thing. "Nate, please promise me that you will not get upset with me."

Nate's eyes softened as he stared at her. "Why on earth would I be upset with you?" Nate questioned.

"Nate, just please… please promise me." Sophie pleaded as she gazed into his deep blue eyes.

Unable to deny her anything, Nate reluctantly nodded his head. "Okay, I promise that I will not be angry with you." Nate promised, though he still did not understand what she could say to make him upset with her.

Sophie smiled sadly and leaned back against his chest as she looked out the window. Taking in a deep breath, Sophie closed her eyes as the memories came rushing back.

"It all started when my grandfather died. He had left the so-called "family business" to my father. My grandfather dealt with bad men; murderers, thieves, rapists, human traffickers, the whole lot. And when he died, the business went to my father. My father didn't want it though; he wanted nothing to do with it. But, unfortunately, he was the only son. My grandfather stated in his will that he didn't want the business being run by his brother, Adonis."

"So, my father took the business and made it his own. At first it wasn't too bad, he didn't make too many deals at home, and he kept business as far away from us kids as possible. And then his uncle, Adonis, gave him the idea of prostitution. My grandfather wasn't at all involved in that, but my uncle thought it'd be a quick and easy way to make good money, especially since my father had "three very young and very beautiful daughters" as Adonis put it." Sophie shook her head sadly then took in another deep breath.

"Kristen was the first to be prostituted of course, with her being the oldest girl. None of us kids knew about it though. It started when she was 13; no man wanted to mess with a girl younger than that. They had "morals." Ha… don't understand how they could say they had morals when they raped little girls. Anyways, Demetri had somehow found out about what was going on and he confronted my father about it. This was rather stupid on his part because my father beat him to death. Afterwards, Demetri was forced to work with my dad."

"Weeks after Kristen turned 14, she found out she was 3 weeks pregnant. Sadly, one of the men who had raped her got her pregnant. None of us girls believe in abortion so that was out of the question. She decided that she would have the baby but said she'd have to put it up for adoption. She gave birth to her son Elijah 7 weeks early. He was so tiny." Sophie smiled sadly at the mental picture of her nephew. "I remember she said that once she saw him, she knew she couldn't leave him. She said she couldn't punish the son for the sins of the father. So she kept him. Then once she turned 16, she left and took Elijah with her. I haven't seen either of them since."

Sophie felt Nate move his hand to rest on hers, allowing her to draw strength from him. He could only imagine how hard it was for her to have to relive those horrible memories again.

Taking in a deep breath, Sophie continued, "Once Kristen left, that left me and Elizabeth. Elizabeth, being older than me, was the next one. But she was only 12 when Kristen left, so she still had a year of innocence. My father would love on her and be the doting father. He set her up in Kristen's old room and gave her everything she wanted. He still paid me attention, just not the same way he did Liz. Once she turned 13, it all changed. Dad started making her do the bad things too. He took her innocence from her." Sophie wiped her teary eyes and let out a shaky breath.

"Elizabeth didn't want to be there anymore so she quickly found a way out. When she was 13, she left. It was only months after my 11th birthday. She left me and never looked back. And then there was me. Just me. Dad knew that I was the last once too. I used to think I could see the sadness in his eyes as he looked at me. That he knew I only had two more years of my innocence before it would be roughly taken away. He did me the way he did Elizabeth before she turned 13; he gave me everything I wanted, treated me like the greatest daughter in the world. Then that day came when I turned 13 and everything changed. I was forced to sleep with men twice my age and my father stood by and let it happen. Demetri would often be forced to watch too; he couldn't bear it though. Several times, my dad would hold his head up and pull his eyes open so he had to watch."

"I think the worst part of it all is when my dad did it. I was… 14 and… Just sleeping in my room and he came in. He looked sad and distressed so I thought maybe he'd tell me that I didn't have to go through that anymore. He… ran his fingers through my hair and told me how much he missed my mom. And then he told me I could make it better for him. I knew as soon as he said that exactly what he meant. So I tried to run out but he grabbed me and pleaded with me to just help him just once. I cried, screamed and begged him to stop and let me go but he didn't. He threw me back on the bed and he…" Sophie cried, unable to continue. The images were much too haunting for her.

Nate held Sophie tightly as he rocked back and forth. He was beyond pissed off. But he was not pissed off at Sophie; he was pissed off at her despicable father for putting her & her siblings through such hell. He would give anything to be able to kill the man. Nate had never in his life thought about killing another human being, but now, after hearing what Sophie told him, he desperately yearned to kill the man.

Nate turned Sophie around so her head was resting against his chest. He slowly started to rub her back as he felt her shoulders start to shake with her sobs. "It's okay Sophie. He will not hurt you ever again. I promise." Nate said as he placed a kiss in her hair.

"I know, I know I just… It kills me to think about it all. He… My father used to be… So different and… nice and loving… and now he's… he's nothing but a monster!" Sophie cried into Nate's chest.

Nate felt his heart break into a million pieces for Sophie. Never should a human being have to go through that. And the saddest thing is that a lot of women go through this type of thing. Nate just never personally knew anyone who had. "It'll be okay Soph." Nate whispered into her ear.

Sophie nodded her head and wiped her eyes. "The even worst part is that it wasn't just once he did that to me; it was several times. And then, when I wouldn't comply with his rules or with what he wanted me to do, he'd hit me." Sophie shook her head as she tried to shake away the memories. "I just never want to go through that again." Sophie said sadly.

Nate lifted her chin up and made her look at him. "You will never go through that again. I can promise you that." Nate pulled Sophie into a warm hug and he looked out the window and watched the rain fall. He would make for damn sure that Malachi Vanderbilt never came anywhere near Sophie again. He would die before that would happen. And if by some chance Malachi did find Sophie, well, he would find hell to pay. And Nate would be the one to give it to him.

*****Meanwhile in Russia – Vanderbilt Residence****

Malachi slapped the man across the face even harder as he glared down at him. The graying haired man was strapped to a wooden chair and blood was streaming from his nose that was more than likely broken.

"I know that you know where Jimmy Ford is my dear friend." Malachi said menacingly.

The man spat blood at Malachi and laughed devilishly. "I'm glad you think you know so much. I haven't talked to Jimmy in years!"

Malachi's eyes turned dark and he grabbed the man by his hair. "Listen to me, Alfredo Fonz; I know that you do dealings with Mr. Jimmy, so it'd be best if you didn't lie to me."

"Ha, I'm not lying to you! I've done dealings with Jimmy, but none recently." Alfredo said, hoping that he could somehow convince this deranged man. Another hard slap fell on his face and nearly sent him falling back in the chair.

"You're lying!" Malachi yelled in his face. "I have a 14 year old hacker who found your little conversation with Jimmy Ford! I know that you were helping him to transport my daughter to America! Now tell me **where he is." **Malachi demanded in a low demon like voice.

Alfredo swallowed thickly as he glared at the man towering over him. "I've told you. I do not know where he is. I can assure you that he does **not** have a little girl. He only has a son. So I believe you're barking up the wrong tree!" Alfredo yelled. There was no way in hell he'd give up Jimmy. He'd gladly die before he'd do that.

Malachi could feel the steam coming from his ears as he glared at the old man. "Fine then. If you do not wish to tell me, I'll just have to kill you." Malachi stated. Before Alfredo could say or do anything else, Malachi broke his neck and watched him so slump in the chair. He motioned to his two men and pointed at Alfredo. "You two can clean up this mess." Malachi said as he walked back towards his study. It then dawned on him that he had just killed his one lead to find out where his daughter was. Becoming angrier, he kicked a chair and sent it into a wall. He watched as he broke into pieces. There had to be someone else who could lead him to his daughter. But who?

**A/N: Okay so this was chapter 10! I hope you all liked it. I know the stuff about what happened to Sophie and her siblings was a little dark but hopefully not too bad for you all. Let me know what you think! Review please! Any criticism is good and you can review as a guest!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: This chapter isn't very long but hopefully you all still enjoy it!**

Ch.11

"And that's Parkplace Avenue! Pay up, Soph!" Nate cheered happily and clapped his hands together. He held out his left hand toward's Sophie, who scowled at him before handing him the money she owed him.

"You're not fair at all, Nate! This is the third time in three turns that I've had to pay you rent!" Sophie said angrily as she glared at him.

"You see, this is why Jimmy & I do not play Monopoly with him that often." Jenny said with a shake of her head. "He'll sit there and buy all the properties until he has no more money, then he'll collect rent from everyone when they land on his properties, and then he'll start buying houses and hotels."

Nate just smiled and shrugged his shoulders as he counted his money then placed it in the designated piles in front of him. "That's just how it do it." Nate smiled wider. He looked at Sophie and she reluctantly smiled back at him, but not without rolling her eyes at him. He laughed lightly to his self as he passed the dice to his father.

"He learned it all from his good old man!" Jimmy boasted as he stood up and patted Nate on his back. "Give this ol boy a minute, folks. I'm receiving a phone call."

"Awe come on dad!" Nate sighed.

"Yeah Jimmy. I thought we agreed that we wouldn't take any business calls today?" Jenny reminded him. He really didn't know how to leave work at work and just spend time with his family.

"I know Jenny, I know. But Patrick keeps on blowing up my phone so it must be important." Jimmy said as he walked into the spacious kitchen. He smiled as he looked at a picture that Nate painted when he was in the second grade. They had put it in a frame and hung it up so they could treasure it forever. With a soft sigh, Jimmy answered his phone. "Jimmy Ford speaking."

"Jimmy. It's Patrick. We have a problem." Patrick Doyle's worried voice came from the other end.

"Patrick, I'm spending some quality time with my family. Can't this wait until some other time?" Jimmy asked.

"It's about Alfredo, Jimmy." Patrick replied.

Jimmy's face fell as he slumped into a chair. "What do you mean? What's happened?" Jimmy asked frantically. He could tell by the sound of Patrick's voice that something bad had happened to his friend.

Patrick sighed heavily before he started. "Two days ago, Alfredo went missing. Nobody had a clue where he disappeared to. His wife Karen was question, so were his two daughters Amy & Jessica. None of them knew where he went. All the people at the Department of Immigration were questioned as well. Nobody has heard from him." Patrick stopped for a moment to regroup. "I received a phone call this morning from a very distressed Karen Fonz. Jimmy, Interpol agents found Alfredo's body in Russia."

Jimmy felt his heart drop as he looked out towards the dining room where his family was sitting at, playing monopoly. "Malachi." Jimmy managed to choke out.

"Yeah. I'm still not for sure though it was him Jimmy. But with him, no one is ever sure. He could slaughter an entire nation and no one could ever prove it was him. God only knows how many crimes that has committed, but the police cannot connect him to any of them." Patrick said with a disgusted shake of his head. Patrick scratched his head as a thought came to his mind. "Jimmy, I really hate to suggest this, but you may just need to give up the girl."

Jimmy's eyes went wide in shock and his mouth went dry. "What?" He asked exasperated.

"Jimmy, hear me out for a minute. If you don't do that, even more people will die. He'll eventually find you and kill your family. Hell, he'll start killing off your friends just to get to you and kill you. So I would just give the girl up to him and be done with the man."

"You are not serious?!"

"Yes, actually I am." Patrick stated.

"You expect me to give up his daughter and let him kill her? Or even worse, sell him to some perverted asshole?! No! I will not do that!" Jimmy cursed.

"Jimmy-" Patrick started before being cut off by Jimmy.

"Would you give Maura up to that serial killer Charles Hoyt if it meant you and the rest of your family would be protected?!"

Patrick's eyes went dark. "She's _my_ daughter, Jimmy."

"Yeah? Well Sophie is like a daughter to me! I will _not_ send her back to the one man who will not hesitate to kill her! I will protect her until my dying day! If that means my death, then so be it!" Jimmy barked.

On the other end of the line, Patrick Doyle shook his head. "You're walking the line, Ford."

Jimmy shrugged his shoulders. "Fine by me. I'll kill the bastard myself if it comes to it. I will not let him have Sophie."

"What about your wife? Your son?" Patrick asked.

"I'll kill him before I stand by and let him hurt them. The moment that man shows up on my doorstep will be the moment I end him. No one messes with my family and gets away with it."

**** Meanwhile in Russia****

"Mr. Vanderbilt, I have a location!" Colin Mason informed his boss happily.

Malachi Vanderbilt smiled evilly as he walked towards Mason's laptop. "Where are they?"

"They are in Boston Massachusetts. It looks like it is a permanent residence." Colin said proudly. He had grown to like and respect Mr. Malachi Vanderbilt. He found his work very interesting. Of course, he also liked it because he was being rewarded with thousands of dollars every time he found something new and useful for his boss. He was also allowed to stay at the mansion in a suite style bedroom with his sister.

Malachi's smile widened as he looked at young Colin. "I need one first class ticket on the first plane out of here to Boston, Colin." Malachi said as he patted Colin on his back before he started to walk off. He stopped short and looked back at Colin. "I'll also need you to reserve me two first class tickets on the way back. I do not intend on coming back home empty-handed." Malachi smirked as he walked away towards his bedroom. He would be reunited with his daughter sooner than he thought.

**A/N: Yeah, so that was this chapter! Hopefully you all liked it! Please read and review!**


	12. Chapter 12

Ch.12

* * Two Days Later * *

Malachi Vanderbilt smiled widely as he approached the Ford residence. He did not come alone though; on either side of him stood two of the best retrieval specialists he knew. The older one was 22 year old Kevin Nash. He was a tall, burly fellow with long black hair. He cracked his knuckles as he prepared his self for a fight, if needed. The younger man was 17 year old Quinn. Malachi never did learn his last name but he didn't fret too much about it. Quinn stood at about 6'2 and had short, curly blonde hair.

Malachi looked at the two men at his sides and patted them both on the back. "Okay boys. Go fetch me my Lara."

Kevin easily knocked down the front door and he & Quinn quickly entered, checking every corner and room as they looked for Malachi's daughter.

Not long after, Malachi also entered the family home. Something felt off to him but he quickly shook the feeling off. He then looked after his men who looked to be rather confused. As Malachi glanced around the room, he noticed that several items appeared to have been tossed already. Someone else had to have been here already. But who else wanted Jimmy Ford besides him? And where the hell was his daughter?

"Quinn. Check the bedrooms upstairs and be discreet. Kevin, come with me as we check the back yard. I am not leaving this house until we search every inch and find my daughter." Malachi sneered as he made his way towards the back exit. He quickly snatched open the door and stepped out onto the back patio. As he observed the back yard, he noticed that the area was untouched. This was not a kidnapping. This was an escape. Jimmy Ford somehow found out that he was coming and he bolted.

Angry, Malachi pushed past Kevin and stormed back into the kitchen. Feeling helpless, he grabbed the closest thing to him and threw it on the ground. Seeing the shards of glass shatter on the floor, Malachi noticed a piece of paper that sat on the kitchen table. Sneering, Malachi sauntered over to the table and snatched up the paper.

_ "Better luck next time, ay Malachi?" - J_

Malachi felt his blood boil as he read and reread the small parchment. It was obviously intended to anger him and it did just that. Jimmy Ford was able to evade him and he still had his daughter.

"Damn it to hell!" Malachi yelled as he tossed the paper in the trash. "When I find that man, I will kill his wife and son in front of him and make him watch! Then I'll kill him slowly and make him regret ever screwing with me! Jimmy Ford will forever rue the day that he crossed paths with me!" Malachi vowed, not noticing that Quinn was coming down the stairs with a small teddy bear.

"Sir, I found this." Quinn announced as he held out the brown bear to his boss.

Malachi sneered as he snatched the bear from Quinn's hands. It was his daughters; his Lara's teddy bear. He knew it had to be. He lifted the bear to his nose and inhaled the scent. Oh yes, it was definitely his daughter's teddy bear. "Where did you find this?"

"I found it in the bedroom upstairs. But it didn't appear that she slept alone." Quinn confessed as he looked down at the ground.

Malachi's head instantly snapped up and he glared at the young man. "What do you mean?"

"Well, there was clothes that belonged to a young woman, which I'm assuming are your daughters. Then in the same closet, there are a young man's clothes, which I am assuming belong to Jimmy's son." Quinn explained.

Malachi felt the blood rush to his face at the mere thought of a boy sleeping in the same room as his daughter. "Oh yes. Jimmy Ford will pay. But first, I will kill his son. Nobody sleeps with my daughter." Malachi said angrily as he stormed out the front door. Quinn and Kevin quickly followed behind him. Now there was a new mission, find out just where on earth Jimmy Ford went with his daughter.

* * * Portland, Oregon * * *

Nate ran his fingers through his short hair as he stood next to his father at the hotel lobby front desk. "Dad, could you please explain to me why on earth we had to come to Portland? It's already raining and we haven't even been here an hour." Nate complained as he wiped the water from the rain off of his face.

"I'll tell you in a moment, Nate. I do not want to talk about it out here." Jimmy whispered as the receptionist came back up to the desk.

"Okay sir, I've got you three rooms on the top floor. Is that okay?" The young, blonde woman asked in a thick, New York accent. Jimmy could tell she wasn't originally from Portland.

"That would be just fine, dear." Jimmy answered with a calm smile. He then pulled out the money he needed to pay for the rooms then grabbed the keys from the counter and handed one to Nate. "Okay, now you get room 813. Sophie will be in the room next to you and then you're mother & I will be just across from you."

"Whoa, dad. Why do Sophie and I have different rooms?" Nate asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Umm… It was your mother's decision, not mine. Something about you two are around that age or something. I'm not sure Nate; you'll have to take that up with your mother." Jimmy said with a dismissive wave of his hand. He knew that Jenny was worried that they might have sex but he knew there was nothing to really worry about. Sure, they were teenagers and their hormones were raging, but he also knew Nate. He knew Nate would at least want to wait to do something like that until he was dating that person.

"Oh my God, why does she think we're going to do something? Why does she not trust me?" Nate asked angrily. It annoyed him that his mother had such little faith in him.

"Nate, son, I wish I knew. I know you won't do anything like that and you know I trust you. I guess it's just a motherly thing or something." Jimmy replied as he and Nate walked towards the girls. He smiled tenderly as he handed Sophie her key. "Okay Sophie, you'll be staying in the room next to Nate's and Jenny, you & I will be staying in the room across from Nate's."

Sophie exchanged a look with Nate before looking back at Jimmy and gave him an awkward smile.

Jenny noticed the look between the two teens and raised an eyebrow. This was why she decided they had separate rooms.

"Okay, so let's go up to our rooms!" Jimmy exclaimed with a bright smile. He ushered Jenny past him along with Sophie and then Nate. He briefly stopped Nate for a moment. "I'll come to your room to talk to you as soon as I get my thing's put away. And I won't tell your mother that Sophie is in your room if you don't tell her that I'm going to the bar afterwards."

Nate smiled at his father and shook his head. "Okay. You've got a deal." Nate smiled as he shook his father's hand in agreement. They then followed the girls to the elevator and up to the top floor.

* * 15 minutes later * *

Nate closed his dresser drawer as he heard a knock on the hotel door. The rooms they were staying in weren't very big, but then again, this wasn't the Ritz. Sighing lightly, Nate walked to the door and looked out the peephole, revealing his father looking rather pensive on the other side. Nate shook his head and opened up the door, allowing his father to enter the room.

"Heyya Nate." Jimmy said as he sat on Nate's bed. It wasn't that comfortable but it would do for a few nights. "So um, you wanted to know why we had to come all the way to Portland."

Nate nodded his head as he sat down next to his father on the bed.

Jimmy took in a deep breath as he went over the previous day's events in his head. "Well, Carter called me; you know, one of my friends? Anyhow, he called me yesterday to inform me that Malachi was on the move and that he was headed to Boston. He's had his eye on Malachi for me since we brought Sophie over. Anyhow, as soon as I heard that, I knew I had to get us out of Boston as soon as possible. But the stay here is only temporary. It's more than likely that Malachi will just trace us here as well. As soon as he does though, I'll know, and then we'll leave again. Maybe we can go visit your Uncle Lenny in New York or something. But we can't go back to Boston until Malachi is off our trail, or dead." Jimmy explained as he looked at his son.

Nate just nodded his head in response, taking it all in. "So Malachi, Sophie's dad, is coming after her?"

"Not just her, but more than likely all us. Since we helped her and brought her over here and took her from him, he'll probably be ready to kill us and take her. But I promise you, Nate; I will _not_ let that happen." Jimmy promised as he placed his hands on his sons' shoulders.

Nate nodded his head again and looked around the small room, still trying to wrap his head around the whole thing. "Okay, well I think I got it all."

"K. I'm gonna… You know, go down to the bar and drink myself into insanity before coming back up to your mother. God only knows what that woman will do once she's realized I've been drinking. But I don't care. I need a drink." Jimmy said before patting his son on the shoulder. "Good night Nate."

"Good night dad." Nate said before Jimmy turned back around to face him.

"Just make sure if you do get lucky tonight to use a condom." Jimmy teased as he tossed Nate a wink.

"Oh my God, dad." Nate said as he hid his face and closed the door. Nate shook his head, clearly embarrassed and sat on his bed. It wasn't too much later that he heard another knock on the door. He knew from the soft knock that it was Sophie. Nate slowly stood up and walked to the door. Just for his own assurances, Nate looked out the peephole to see Sophie standing there with a movie in hand. _"Oh joy. What is she planning to watch now?"_ Nate thought to himself. Nate slowly opened up the door and smiled warmly at Sophie. "Heyya. You may want to hurry and come in before mom looks out and notices." Nate said as he ushered Sophie inside his room.

"Sorry. I know that she apparently doesn't want us in a room together but I _really_ do not want to sleep by myself." Sophie said apologetically.

"Ah, no worries. Dad doesn't care, so I really don't see why mom makes a big deal out of it. It isn't like we're going to do anything." Nate replied with a roll of his eyes.

Sophie smiled as she sat down at the edge of his bed with the DVD still in hand. "I was thinking maybe we could watch a movie together." Sophie suggested as she held out the movie towards Nate.

Nate took the movie from Sophie and stared at it. "Seriously? The Notebook?"

"What? It's a great love story." Sophie defended.

"You mean it's a great, _sad_ love story." Nate corrected. He walked over to the small television and pressed the "open tray" button on the DVD player. The thing looked to be at least a century old, but Nate knew that was impossible. It was probably just because everything else in the hotel looked as if it came straight from the Renaissance era.

"So we're gonna watch it?" Sophie asked excitedly.

"We were never not gonna watch it, I just like messing with you." Nate confessed with a smile as he closed the DVD tray and sat down next to Sophie, earning a poke from her as he did.

"I'm going to beat you for that, I hope you know." Sophie teased.

Nate just shook his head and looked over at the brunette. Every day, he felt his feelings getting stronger and stronger for her. It was starting to overwhelm and scare him. But he knew he didn't want to run from those feelings, he wanted to tell Sophie how he felt, and he just wasn't too sure how to go about doing so.

Sophie felt Nate's eyes on her, but she made no move to connect her eyes with his. Every time she did, it felt like a jolt of electricity ran through her. And she knew that if she acknowledged him, he'd probably look away from her. She liked it when he looked at her. Sophie knew that when he looked at her, he didn't just see some girl he could get lucky with, he truly saw her. Nate knows her better than anyone else ever did; even more than her older sister Elizabeth. Unable to control herself any longer, Sophie finally allowed her eyes to meet Nate's.

But Nate didn't look away shyly this time. Instead he smiled warmly at her and scooted an inch closer to her. "You know Soph, you really are very beautiful." Nate confessed as he stared into Sophie's bright brown eyes.

This time, it was Sophie to look away shyly as the heat rushed to her cheeks. She tucked her hair behind her ear and composed herself before looking back at him. "You're not too bad yourself." Sophie said with a light laugh.

Nate just smiled and tucked a loose hair behind her ear, causing her to look into his eyes. Before either of them knew what was happening, Nate's lips crashed into Sophie's, stealing her breath away.

Sophie curled her hand in Nate's hair and pulled her face closer to hers. She loved the feeling of Nate's lips against hers. Sophie allowed Nate to lay her back against his bed and laid her head against his soft pillow. Her lips reconnected with his as he hovered over her. As Sophie pulled Nate closer to her, there was a loud knock on Nate's door.

"_Nathan! Open this door right now!"_

Nate sighed angrily and laid his head next to Sophie's, who laughed lightly at his anger. "Damn that woman and her bad timing." Nate cursed under his breath with a shake of his head.

"Where do you want me to hide?" Sophie asked quietly so that way Jenny wouldn't hear her.

"Um… In the bathroom. Just keep the light off, k?" Nate said. Sophie quickly nodded her head and leaned up to place another gentle kiss on Nate's lips before rushing into the bathroom. Nate was momentarily stunned but then he shook it off and stood up from his bed. He slowly walked towards the door and pretended to be sleepy by rubbing his eyes. He opened the door and let out a heavy yawn.

"Mom, what are you doing? It's like… Late. I was asleep." Nate lied through his teeth, hoping that Jenny wouldn't call him on it.

"Oh really? Then what were the voices I heard then?" Jenny questioned as she crossed her arms in front of her.

Nate shook his head and allowed her into the room so that he could show her the television that was on. "I was starting to watch a movie but I kinda fell asleep. Jet lag is no joke, mom." Nate replied. By the look on Jenny's face, he could see that she bought it.

"Oh alright. I'm sorry. Do you know where your father is?" Jenny asked as she ran her fingers through her short hair.

"Um, no actually. He came by to talk to me then he said he was going back to the room." Nate lied once again. But he promised his father that he would not snitch on him as long as Jimmy didn't tell Jenny that Sophie was sleeping in the room with him.

Jenny sighed lightly and shook her head. "That man. Alright then, I'll let you go back to bed. Love you Nate."

"Love you too mom." Nate replied before closing the door and letting out the breath he didn't know he was holding.

"That was close." Sophie whispered as she walked out of the bathroom.

Nate nodded his head in response and ran his fingers through his short hair. "Man, I thought she was gonna come in here and search the whole room." Nate laughed as he shook his head. Sophie laughed too then laid back down on Nate's bed before letting out a stiff yawn. "You're sleepy, huh?" Nate asked her as he too lay down on the bed.

"Yeah, just a little bit." Sophie confessed with a smile.

Nate smiled too then reached up to tuck a hair behind Sophie's ear. "Well then, I guess you & I should be going to sleep then yeah?" Nate asked. Sophie nodded her head in response then leaned up to give Nate a kiss goodnight.

"Goodnight Nate." Sophie said with a smile.

Nate laughed and shook his head. "You know, you keep kissing me like that then I'm gonna think that you like me, Miss Sophie." Nate teased as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back to his chest.

"Well maybe I do like you." Sophie confessed softly. She turned her head to look back at Nate and saw that he was smiling.

"Yeah well… Maybe I like you too." He replied. Nate placed a soft kiss in her hair before laying his head down on his pillow. "But goodnight to you too, Soph. See you in the morning." Within minutes, the pair fell off into a deep, peaceful sleep.

**A/N: So that was chapter 12! Hopefully you all enjoyed it! Please read and review! =D Thank you all for sticking with me!**


	13. Chapter 13

Ch.13

The next morning, Nate woke up to the sound of someone banging on the hotel room door. Tired, Nate rubbed his eyes and looked at Sophie, who was curled up next to him. Nate smiled at her sleeping figure and gently removed his arm from underneath her. Letting out a light sigh, Nate pushed himself up off of the bed and walked to the door.

_"Nate, it's dad. Open up the door!" _Jimmy ordered in a rushed voice.

Nate didn't bother to look out the peephole, he just opened up the door to let Jimmy in. "Where's the fire?" Nate joked as Jimmy rushed in.

"Your mother is freaking out because I accidently let it slip that Sophie stayed in here with you last night." Jimmy explained quickly as he ran his hand over his face.

Nate sighed and stared at his father. "What? You told mom?" Nate questioned.

"I accidentally slipped up! She was asking me about Sophie and, me not thinking correctly, told her that she didn't have to worry that she was in here with you!" Jimmy exclaimed in a panic. Jenny had become enraged when Jimmy had accidentally told his wife that Sophie had slept in the same room with Nate.

"Aw man. Dad, you know that she thinks that Sophie and I are sleeping together!" Nate said as he looked back at Sophie, who was surprisingly still asleep.

"I know that Nate! But it really was an accident! I wasn't thinking clearly!" Jimmy apologized with a shake of his head.

Just then, there was a light knock at the door and Nate sighed heavily, knowing fully well who was at his door this time.

"Nate sweetie, can I talk with you for a moment?" Jenny asked from the other side of the wooden door.

Nate let out a soft sigh this time as he motioned for his father to move out of the way of the door. Nate slowly opened up the door and walked out into the hallway to face his mother. "Hey mom. What's going on?" Nate asked as he put his hands in his jean pockets. He failed to sleep in his pajamas again, but he didn't really care.

"Let's take this conversation into mine and your father's hotel room, shall we." Jenny stated rather than asked as she led Nate into the bedroom. Even though they were just staying across the hall, their room still looked a lot nicer than Nate's.

Nate knew exactly what his mother wanted to talk to him about, and he decided that it was best to face the argument now rather than later. If he let it go for too long, she'd blow up and make Sophie leave or something, and he really didn't want that. "So what's this about mom?" Nate asked, acting as if he didn't know what she wanted.

Jenny closed the hotel room door and fidgeted with her fingers as she turned to look at her son. "Nate… Darling… I know that you're sixteen now… and that you're interested in girls now and all-"

"I've always liked girls mom. This didn't just happen." Nate interrupted as he sat on the king sized bed and folded his arms across his chest.

Jenny squared her eyes at her son. He knew that she did not like to be interrupted. "Yes, well, before it wasn't an issue. Now, we have a young woman staying with us; not to mention the fact that she is a very attractive young woman."

"Yeah, she is mom. But that doesn't mean that I'm some idiotic teenager with raging hormones and that I think about sex all the time and that I'm gonna have sex with her." Nate said angrily.

"Oh really? Then just what the hell have you two been doing together? You two have shared the bed together on a countless number of occasions! I know that boys your ages have certain _urges_ and don't know how to control them when you're around girls."

"Well, I'm sorry. I'm not like those other assholes who take girls' virginity just for the hell of it and just for my own pleasures! Do I like Sophie? Yes, I do! So what?! But I have no intentions of sleeping with her like that right now! She's my friend! Yes, she's very beautiful and very smart, but she's also very broken and hurt! If I were to even try something like that, it'd push her away from me! And I don't want that! I would never do that because I care about her a lot more than you'll _ever_ know! You sit there and act like you know me! You apparently know _nothing_ about me if you think that I would actually take what I want from a girl and then leave them! I'm so sorry to disappoint you but I'm not like that! Just because your childhood boyfriend was a dick, that doesn't mean that I'm going to be just like him!" Nate scolded as he stormed out of the hotel room, leaving his mother stunned and speechless.

Nate slumped against the wall and let out a deep breath. He and his mother had never argued like that before. Sure, they had their spats here and there, but it was never anything serious. It wasn't anything like this. And it really hurt him that his own mother thought so little of him. Swallowing thickly, Nate pushed himself up and walked towards his hotel room. Since he forgot his key, he'd have to knock. Nate slowly brought his hand up to knock on the door. "Dad, I don't have my key." Nate called out.

Hearing movement from the inside, Nate leaned against the door fame as he waited for his dad to open the door. A moment later, the door opened. But it was Sophie who answered the door, not his dad.

"Hey. I didn't expect you to be up." Nate said as he walked in and closed the door. He looked around the room and squinted his eyebrows. "Where's my dad?"

"Oh, he went to get some breakfast I think he said." Sophie replied tiredly as she stretched her arms above her head. Then unexpectedly, she wrapped her arms around Nate's neck. "Where did you take off to?" Sophie asked innocently.

"Eh, mom just wanted to talk to me about some stuff." Nate replied, not wanting to tell Sophie what really went on. Instead, he wrapped his arms around Sophie's waist and pulled her closer to him. "This is a bit… well, it's nice, but isn't this the sort of thing couples do?" Nate asked as he looked down into Sophie's brown eyes.

"Well, yeah. But… you know, I kinda think of us as a couple… Like a couple taking baby steps in their relationship." Sophie quietly admitted. She really liked Nate and she thought of him as more than just her friend. The feelings she had for him were beyond friendly. She could tell that Nate felt the same way about her.

Nate smiled softly and he brought his hand up from around her waist to lift her chin up so that she was looking at him. "So, I'm your boyfriend now, huh? I didn't even get to properly ask you out yet." Nate teased.

Sophie laughed as his bright blue eyes twinkled at her. "Well then, ask me to be your girlfriend.

Nate smiled and shook his head as he bit down on his bottom lip. "Alright. Sophie, will you be my-" Before Nate could finish asking her, Sophie kissed Nate softly on his lips.

After a moment, Sophie pulled away from him with a smile on her face. "Does that answer your question?"

Nate smiled back at her and nodded his head before leaning down to capture her lips again.

* * * Back In Boston * * *

"I just can't believe that he hasn't called up or anything." Parker said with a sad shake of

her head as she walked next to Eliot on the beaten path towards the Ford Residence.

"Yeah I know. That isn't like Nate at all." Eliot replied. "I haven't even seen Jimmy at the bar at Jordan's, and he that is very unusual." Eliot added.

As the pair approached the Ford Residence, they failed to notice the black Lincoln town car in the driveway.

"Well, hopefully we can get them to answer the door." Parker said hopefully as she stepped onto the porch.

Eliot nodded in agreement then he immediately felt like something was off. He put a hand up to stop Parker from knocking on the door and noticed that the front door was broken. Eliot was instantly on high alert. He silently pushed open the large ornate door and peeked inside the home. He didn't see anything or anyone so he walked in and motioned for Parker to follow closely behind him.

Before Eliot knew what was happening, he felt someone grab him from behind and he was almost instantly knocked out.

Parker quickly ran outside in hopes of finding someone to help them, but she was stopped by a tall man with long black hair. Parker tried to evade him but the big man grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder.

"No! Help me! Someone please help! Get off of me!" Parker screamed, trying to get someone, anyone, to hear her. But apparently, no one heard her.

A moment later, two figures stepped out from the Ford home, one of the men carried Eliot over his shoulder. The older man sauntered over to the tall man and Parker and smiled evilly at her.

"Hello there dear. My name is Mister Malachi Vanderbilt. Sorry to have to take you and your friend here, but I need yours and his help with a little problem of mine." Malachi smiled maliciously. Parker instantly knew that this were in danger.

**A/N: Thanks for reading this chapter! Hope you all enjoyed it! So what is Malachi up to? Hmmm... We shall see!**


	14. Chapter 14

Ch.14 – Late That Night

Sophie giggled as Nate's lips gently caressed her bare shoulder; the stubble from his budding beard tickling her. The pair had just gotten out of the shower and neither of them felt up to changing back into their clothes. This, of course, meant that they both were still in their towels.

As Nate moved from her shoulder to her collarbone, Sophie felt her breath hitch in her throat. "Nate, what are you doing?" Sophie asked breathlessly as she bit down on her bottom lip. The feeling of Nate's lips on her bare skin was sending chills throughout her body.

"Oh you know, just have a little fun." Nate smirked then he continued to kiss and nibble at Sophie's neck.

Moaning lightly at the warm contact, Sophie curled her fingers in Nate's short hair. "Nate, if you don't stop now, we may end up doing something that we'll regret later." Sophie said. But she knew, deep in her heart, that she wouldn't regret a damn thing. She wasn't too sure about how Nate felt about it though.

Nate lifted his head from her neck to look Sophie in her chocolate brown eyes. "Yeah, I really don't think I'll regret this." Nate replied sincerely. He leaned down to capture Sophie's soft lips in a passionate kiss. He felt Sophie moan against his lips as his traced her lips, seeking entrance. She parted her lips slightly, allowing him to explore every part of her.

Nate's hands roamed up and down Sophie's bare body as Sophie's hands curled in his hair, pulling his face closer to hers. Nate broke the kiss for a moment to pull the dark blue towel from around Sophie's waist. He stared at her in awe as he looked her over. "God, you're so beautiful." He admitted softly as he kissed Sophie again.

Feeling rather self-conscious about being the only person completely nude, Sophie used her feet to unwrap the red towel from around Nate's waist. Once she was able to do that, she kicked it onto the floor and laughed to herself as she kissed Nate again. She gasped lightly as she felt his manhood make contact with her left leg.

"Are you for certain that you want to do this Nate?" Sophie asked him as she broke the kiss.

Nate licked his wet lips as he traced her lips with his thumb and stared into her dark orbs. "Soph, I know that you may not feel entirely the same way, but I am insanely crazy about you. Like I feel all of these… Amazing… Loving feeling towards you. I think about you all the time. You… You make me feel something that I… I've never ever felt before in my life. And while it scares me a bit, I know I don't want to run from it because it just feels so right. And this moment, right here, right now, has never felt more right. So to answer your question; yes, I'm definitely sure that I want to do this. But I only want to if you really want to, too." Nate replied as he ran his fingers through her long, dark hair.

Sophie smiled lovingly at Nate and leaned up to capture his lips, giving him his answer.

` * * * Early the Next Morning * * *

Nate was slowly starting to awaken when he felt something warm and moist touch his bare chest. As his eyes fluttered open, he noticed that it was Sophie kissing his chest. He smiled warmly down at her; she didn't even know that he was awake. Nate raised his left hand to rest on her bare shoulder. As Nate figured, Sophie jumped back as if something shocker her. Nate couldn't help but to laugh at her facial expression. She looked so cute when she was scared.

"Sorry, did I scare you?" Nate asked apologetically, even though on the inside, he wanted to laugh.

"Yeah just a bit." Sophie replied with a smile as she climbed on top of Nate. She slowly leaned down to capture his lips. "Good morning, sweetie."

"Mm, G'morning. I could definitely get used to this." Nate said with a warm smile as he brought his hand up to caress her cheek. "You know, you really are very beautiful."

Sophie blushed and turned her head away from Nate in an attempt to hide her reddening cheeks, but she failed miserably.

"Aw, you're so cute when you're embarrassed." Nate said with a laugh and lifted her chin up to look her in her eyes. He placed a gentle kiss on her lips and smiled his handsome smile at her.

Sophie kissed him back then pulled back slightly to let out a light laugh then shake her head at him. "You do love to make me blush don't you?"

"Yes, but only because you're so darn cute when you're embarrassed!" Nate replied as he kissed her again.

Sophie licked her moist lips then looked into his deep blue eyes, a serious expression on her beautiful face. "Nate… you don't regret last night do you?" Sophie asked worriedly. She was afraid that he may become distant if he regretted any part of last night. She knew for one that she didn't regret a thing. It was a very beautiful experience.

Nate shook his head as he stared at her. "No… I really don't." Nate replied honestly. He licked his suddenly dry lips before replying, "I think I'm in love with you, Sophie."

Sophie smile brightly as she gazed into his deep blue eyes, tears forming in her own. She grabbed his face and kissed him passionately. After a minute or two, the pair slowly pulled away from one another. "I think I'm in love with you too, Nate. I love you so much that it scares me."

Nate smiled widely and hugged Sophie tight. But their moment was quickly cut short by Nate's cell phone ringing. "Ugh, moment ruined by the damn phone." Nate cursed, causing Sophie to laugh. She always seemed to think he was funny when he was annoyed. But he could never stay too mad for long; Sophie's laughter always made him feel better. Looking down at the caller ID on his phone, Nate noticed it was his friend.

"Ah, it's Eliot. I wonder what the idiot face is up to." Nate joked before answering the phone. "Yello?"

"Hello there, Nathan."

Nate felt his blood instantly go cold at the sound of the man's voice. It definitely was _not_ Eliot. He didn't know who in the hell it was, but he did know that the person was evil. He could tell by their menacing voice. "Who the hell is this?"

"Oh, you don't know? I'm hurt. Well, you may not know me, but you do know my daughter." The voice said in an accusatory voice.

Nate's eyes went wide at the realization. "Malachi Vanderbilt." Nate replied knowingly. How in the hell did he get Eliot's phone?

Sophie heard her father's name and instantly became interested; well, scared would be more accurate.

"Ah, you would be correct, young Nathan." Malachi boasted.

"What do you want? How did you get Eliot's phone?" Nate asked in a rushed, worried voice.

"Who? Oh, your little brown haired friend, yes? Well, let's just say that he offered up his services to me." Malachi replied as he turned back to look at Eliot who was hanging from a pipe.

"No I didn't Nate! The bastard is lying!" Eliot yelled. He grunted in pain as once of Malachi's henchmen punched him in the solar plexus.

"Oh, I also have another one of your little friends." Malachi said with pride in his voice.

"Nate! Help me please!"

Nate's eyes went wide once more as he heard her voice. "Parker!"

"Nate please! He's… Ahh! No don't touch me, get off of me! Please!" Parker yelled out as the tall man with black hair touched her.

Nate pulled at his hair in frustration. He felt completely helpless. "What do you want from me?!" Nate asked angrily.

"Ah, well, I just want one thing. I want my Lara back." Malachi replied viciously.

"That is not going to happen." Nate sneered as he grabbed Sophie's hand.

"No? Well then, I guess you would rather have your friends be tortured to death." Malachi said as he nodded to one of his men.

Nate heard Parker scream out in agony and he clenched his eyes shut. "Will you please stop!"

"Oh, of course I will. But only if you bring me my Lara." Malachi answered. After a beat, a new idea came to his mind. "Better yet, come here and meet with me and… We can make a compromise."

Nate bit down on his bottom lip and stared at the pale wall. He would sacrifice his life for Sophie and his friends if they would be set free. In that instant, he had a plan. "Where do you want us to meet you?"

`* * * End Chapter * * *

**A/N: so what did you all think of this chapter? Hopefully you all loved it! Please read and review! =D**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N 1: Sorry for such the long wait guys! Thank you all for still sticking with me though and waiting! Oh, and Kendra, to answer your question about how old the two are, Nate is 16 going on 17 and Sophie is 15 going on 16. =) So now, without further ado, here is chapter 15! =)**

Ch.15

Hours later, Sophie & Nate arrived at the airport in Boston Massachusetts. Sophie followed quickly behind Nate as he pushed through the thick crowds. Sophie had been nervous ever since Nate had ended the phone call with her evil father. Nate told her that Malachi wanted to make a "compromise" but Sophie knew better. Her father didn't make compromises with his enemies; he killed them. And since Nate had taken Sophie from her father, he viewed Nate & Jimmy as his enemies.

"Nate, are you positive that we shouldn't have informed your father of what we're doing?" Sophie asked Nate as she fought to keep up with him.

Nate's eyes flitted around the large airport as he looked for any sign of trouble; he found none. "I'm very sure that we didn't need to tell him. The less my father knows about this, the better. Besides, if it's just me and you, maybe your dad will really work with us." Nate replied as he pushed past a man in a dark suit that was talking on his cell phone. "If dad would've come, Malachi would've seen it as a challenge. He doesn't see me as a threat."

Nate's word fell on deaf ears as Sophie spotted one of the men that worked for her father near the airport exit. "Nate stop for a second." Sophie ordered as she grabbed Nate's arm to stop him. The tall, dark-haired men hadn't spotted\them yet and Sophie wanted to keep it that way.

Nate looked back at Sophie quizzically and shook his head. "What? What's going on?"

"Well, one of my father's men is standing at the exit." Sophie answered. Just as Nate was about to turn to look, Sophie slapped his arm. "Don't look! We need to get out of sight; we need to disguise ourselves." Sophie said as she quickly looked around the airport. She instantly spotted a young couple, who were too interested in each other and not their carry-on baggage, and she waltz over and grabbed the two suitcases like it was no big deal. She then walked back over to Nate, who appeared to be shocked.

"Soph! You just _stole- "_

"Shh! Borrowed Nate! Borrowed! It was a dire emergency! Now, let's go change into our new clothes so that we can sneak past him undetected." Sophie replied as she looked into the first suitcase and noticed that it was men's clothing. "Okay, find something that doesn't stand out too much and come meet me back out here in three minutes." Sophie said as she motioned towards the men's bathroom. "Be quick." She ordered as she gave him a quick peck on his lips.

Nate stood there, dumbfounded, for a moment before he ventured off towards the men's bathroom.

Minutes later, the pair emerged from the bathroom.

Sophie couldn't help but to laugh at Nate's attire. "Nate, what the bloody hell are you wearing? I said something that _doesn't _stand out love." Sophie said with a laugh.

Nate shrugged his shoulders & sighed heavily as he looked himself over. "I guess they were coming back from Vegas or something. It was either this or a damn Elvis costume." Nate replied. He was stuck wearing a bright, neon orange Hawaiian shirt and tight, black skinny jeans. He looked over at Sophie & shook his head. "At least it seems that the girl packed smartly." Sophie wore a baby blue sundress, a dark pair of shades and a sunhat. She looked incredibly beautiful.

"Yeah. Let's get out of here and go save our friends." Sophie said with a warm smile. She grabbed the two suitcases and handed one to Nate.

"Seriously?" He asked as he looked at the suitcases.

"What? We have to act the part. We can't just leave without any luggage; it'd be suspicious." Sophie replied with a smile again as she pulled Nate along beside her.

As they were leaving, Sophie kept an eye out for her father's goon, but she couldn't find him. She was sure that he had stood near the exit. Sophie instantly became nervous and pulled Nate closer towards her as she practically dragged him. "Uh oh. I've lost sight of the goon, Nate."

"What? Well, that's a good thing then, right?" Nate asked as he struggled to keep up with her quick steps.

"Hardly. I could mean that he's onto us. However, he could be watching us elsewhere." Sophie replied as they walked out of the airport. Sophie quickly looked behind them and noticed that no one was following them. She let out a deep breath. "Well, maybe it was a good thing."

No sooner that Sophie said that, a large black van pulled up and two men jumped out then threw Nate & Sophie inside the vehicle and slammed the door shut before pulling off. Sophie screamed out and bit one of the men on his arm. The man grunted angrily before jabbing a needle full of sedatives into her arm. The other goon did the same thing to Nate. Within seconds, the pair slipped into unconsciousness.

** An Hour Later **

She felt weak, like all the energy had been drained from her body. She tried to open her eyes as she fought to remember what had happened. She was at the airport- she was leaving the airport. But why? And with who?

An image of Nate flashed through her mind as Sophie finally managed to open her eyes. Once she did, she clenched them shut again, refusing to believe who she saw.

"Ah, look who finally decided to grace us with her lovely presence. Hello there, my dearest Lara." Malachi said as he approached his daughter & touched her cheek. "Oh, how I've missed you my darling. Did you miss me too?"

Sophie opened her eyes to meet her fathers. "Go to hell." She sneered at him.

"Aw, Lara. Now you know that isn't any way to greet your father after running off on him." Malachi replied coldly. Angry, he lifted his hand and smacked her hard across her face. "You will soon remember that you do not disrespect me that way, my dear Lara."

Sophie felt hot tears sting her eyes at the blow but she couldn't wipe them away. Her hands were tied in a rope behind her back as she sat in a cold, metal chair. Sophie looked around the dark room and noticed that Eliot and Parker were in there as well. They were both hanging from a long pipe that stretched across the ceiling. They both appeared to be brutally battered and unconscious. Swallowing thickly, Sophie turned her head to see Nate, unconscious, tied up in a chair not five feet from her. Sophie's eyes met her father's again and she gave him an icy glare. "What do you want from us?"

"Oh darling, I just want you back. You see, my buyer wasn't too pleased when I had to tell him that the merchandise he requested had come up… missing." Malachi replied as he returned the glare. He was not at all intimidated by his daughter.

Sophie pretended to be saddened by this information. "Oh, how sad. Oh, do tell him that he will _never_ receive his 'merchandise' as you called it."

Malachi smirked at that. "What? You honestly think that you're going to get away from me and leave again?" Malachi asked as he walked towards Nate and pointed at his unconscious figure. "With him? Yes? Well, I don't think so." With that, Malachi backhanded Nate, causing him to fall backwards in the chair and onto the ground.

"No! Leave him alone!" Sophie screamed out as she fought to get her hands out of the rope.

Malachi turned back towards his daughter and sneered at her. "What?! You don't want me to hurt him?! I'll do whatever the bloody hell I want to!" Malachi yelled back at Sophie as he pulled the chair back up and hit Nate in his stomach, causing Nate to groan in pain

"Daddy, please stop it!" Sophie pleaded with her father as she stared at Nate's slumped figure.

Malachi went over towards Sophie and grabbed her face to make her look at him. "And why should I stop?" He asked coldly.

Sophie sniffed back her tears and bit her bottom lip in an attempt to stop it from trembling. "You want me right? So hurt me instead of him." Sophie offered, hoping that she could persuade her father to leave Nate alone.

Malachi smiled devilishly at her and released his grip on her as he walked back towards Nate, who seemed to be slowly regaining his consciousness. "Hurt you? And not him? But darling, don't you see?" Malachi started before he pushed Nate's chair back onto the floor and stomped on his left leg, feeling a bone shatter and hearing Nate & Sophie scream out; Nate in agony & pain and Sophie in anger. "Hurting _him_ hurts _you!_ It is the perfect way of torture!" Malachi concluded proudly as he threw his hands in the air.

"You're a monster!" Sophie screamed at him.

"Yes I am! Thank you my child! I'm fully aware of what I am and I am damn proud of it! It made me who I am today!" Malachi boasted.

Sophie shook her head at her father. "I hate you." She cried as she stared at him.

Malachi felt that one. It stung him, deep in his cold, black heart. It reminded him so much of when her mother had said the same thing to him before she had left him when she was three months pregnant with their baby; his Lara. And now his daughter was speaking those same words to him, but for a completely different reason.

Malachi quickly shook the feelings away and walked off, leaving Sophie & the others alone in the cold basement. He knew that he couldn't let her words affect him. He had to be the man who people respected and feared. He couldn't be that man if he dwelled on the past. So he went to the only person that could get him back to where he needed to be, that person would be the same one who convinced him to get into the business in the first place; his uncle.

Sophie fought to get the roped off her hands; it was proving to be a difficult task seeing that the ropes were tied in a very meticulous manner. Whoever tied them up had to have been very skilled in rope tying techniques. Sophie bit down on her bottom lip in pain as she pulled out her left hand after several attempts. Sophie let out a sigh of relief then used her left hand to unravel the rope from her right hand. It took her a while, but she eventually got it out.

Sophie quickly brought her hands around front to look at them. She noticed that they were both blood read due to rope burn. Sophie then looked around the room once more to make for sure that there weren't any guards in the room. Once she was sure she was in the clear, she went to Nate and untied his hands. She looked down at his mangled leg and grimaced. It was insane that his leg looked that bad due to the fact that her father just stomped on it. You would've thought that someone beat him in the leg several times with a blunt object. Turning her attention back to Nate's face, she shook him lightly. "Nate, love, wake up. We need to get out of here." Sophie urged quietly.

Nate's eyes slowly opened and he brought his hand up to rub his face. "Sophie." He murmured in pain.

"Yes love?"

"How long have we been here?"

"Maybe an hour. Here, lean on me and I'll help you up to your feet. Just don't use your left leg, okay?" Sophie said. Nate nodded his head and Sophie approached his right side and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him up with her. "Okay, we need to get Parker and Eliot down too. I'll do that, I just got to get you a crutch of some sort or something." Sophie said as she looked around the room.

But before she could do anything, Malachi stormed into the room along with his two goons.

The tall one rushed towards them and instantly grabbed Nate and threw him to the ground. The short blonde one grabbed Sophie and dragged her to Malachi.

"What the bloody hell do you two think you're doing?" Malachi yelled as he grabbed Sophie by her hair and pulled her towards him. "I told you Lara that you will _not_ escape from here! Especially not now that you're little _boyfriend_ has a broken leg." Malachi sneered as he looked at Nate, who was now on his feet but hobbling on one leg.

"Daddy, please let them go. I'll stay." Sophie begged. She knew what would happen if her father accepted but she didn't care anymore. She just wanted to get Nate, Parker, and Eliot out of there.

"Oh my darling… You're going to stay here anyways. And so are your little friends. You get to watch them be tortured until the _end_. And they will get to watch you." Malachi said before throwing Sophie to the ground. Sophie screamed out in fear as Malachi ripped her shirt off of her.

Just then, Jimmy Ford, Patrick Doyle and 5 other men from the Irish mob broke down the doors and rushed into the basement.

Malachi instantly pulled Sophie up on her feet and in front of him then put a gun to her temple. "Don't you dare come any closer! I'll kill her, I swear that I will!" Malachi threatened as he held Sophie tighter. She was fighting to get out of his grip though.

"Malachi! Let her go! You know that you don't want to do this! Besides, we are all unarmed!" Jimmy said as he held his hands up to prove that he held no weapons.

Malachi pressed the barrel of the fun further into Sophie's temple, causing her to yelp out in pain. He knew something was going on for them not to be armed. They probably notified the police. "I don't care but I swear if you come any closer I will bloody shoot her!"

Once Jimmy took another step forward, everything seemed to go in slow motion. Malachi's finger was on the trigger, Sophie clenched her eyes shut and Nate, full of adrenaline, broke free of his goon and ran at Malachi. Nate crushed into Malachi's midsection and tackled him to the ground and grabbed his arm to try to get the gun. Sophie fell to the ground but she was no longer in her father's grasp. Jimmy ran over to her and pulled her up and into his arms.

Just then, a shot rang on, and then two more followed. Sophie heard two screams; one was her father's scream… The other was…

"Nate!" Sophie yelled as she dropped to Nate's side.

**A/N 2: So what did you guys think of this chapter? Who shot Nate? Who shot Malachi? Will either of them survive their injuries? Will the cops come? Who knows? *Smirks evilly* I know! Hahaha! Anyhow, hope you really enjoyed this chapter! Please read & review! You may review as a guest! =) Oh and just a side note, for those who may be curious (or maybe not) my name on twitter is Grifter91_GBTH =)**


	16. Chapter 16

Ch. 16

Hours later, Sophie & Jimmy are sitting in the waiting room at Boston Memorial Hospital. It had been almost three hours since they had heard anything from the doctors about Nate's condition. It turned out that Malachi was the one who had shot Nate, once, during their altercation. Somehow, Eliot managed to get down from the pipe he was hanging from and he got one of the guards' guns and shot Malachi twice; once in his leg and another time in his shoulder.

Shortly afterwards, cops arrived on the scene and arrested Malachi for kidnapping and attempted rape & murder, and then they also arrested Eliot for shooting Malachi.

Jenny Ford was on her way to the hospital on an airplane. She was none too happy that she was kept out of the loop with what was going on. She was highly upset that Jimmy had found out where Nate & Sophie were and didn't even tell her of it.

Sophie sighed heavily and put her head in her hands, allowing tears to stream down her cheeks again. She was beyond worried sick about Nate. Her stomach felt like it was coiled in knots. She felt like it was all her fault that Nate had gotten shot by her father.

Jimmy rested his head against the wall and looked up at the white ceiling. He felt like his world was crumbling to pieces. His only son got shot and he could very well be dying at that moment, but he tried to keep a strong front for Sophie. He knew that Sophie was breaking every single bit as much as he was. Jimmy knew that the young woman had grown strong feelings for his son. He didn't hold it against her that it was her father that shot Nate and he certainly didn't regret bringing her into their lives. He just wished that Malachi would've left his daughter the hell alone and went on with his life. After all, the man had planned on selling her, so either way he would've been without his daughter; Jimmy didn't understand how this was any different.

A while later, Sophie & Jimmy heard a commotion coming from the front entrance. Jimmy sighed heavily and stood up, motioning for Sophie to come with him. Jimmy knew exactly who it was causing the commotion and he knew that this wasn't going to be good. They got closer to the front entrance and, as Jimmy suspected, there was his petite, blonde-haired wife Jenny & she was in a rage.

Jenny immediately noticed Jimmy and pointed at him. "Him! See! That man there is my husband, Jimmy! Now let me go so I can see my son, you buffoons!" Jenny yelled as she tried to get out of the security guards grasp, but to no avail. The man had at least two-hundred pounds on her.

Jimmy gave the security guard a tight smile and a nod as he lightly grabbed Jenny's arm and led her outside. "Jenny, inside of a hospital is not a place to start an argument, especially since it's our son in there!" Jimmy scolded.

"Well, excuse the hell out of me, Jimmy! I'm worried about my son! And thank you _so_ much for telling me what the hell was going on!" Jenny yelled as soon as they were far enough away from the hospital doors. "And, he wouldn't be here if it wasn't for _her!_" Jenny continued as she pointed a finger at Sophie.

"Oh, that's nice Jenny! Real nice! Blame the poor girl for something that she didn't do or have anything to do with!" Jimmy retorted as he stood in front of Sophie as if to protect her.

"Well it is true! If she wouldn't have run from her damn father, none of this would've happened!" Jenny yelled.

"What?! Woman, you were the one that agreed with Nate to help her! _I_ was the one who didn't think it was a good idea at the time! But now, I know that I made the right decision in helping her! That man would've sold her off to a Russian! Hell, she'd probably be dead by now!"

"Like our son could be?! He is lying in a cold hospital bed with a bullet hole in his chest, possibly dying and _you_ say you made the right decision?!"

Jimmy scoffed and looked behind him to find… no one. "Sophie?! Where'd she go?!" Jimmy asked worried to no one in particular. He then ran off and rushed inside the hospital; Jenny followed right behind him. Jimmy went into the waiting room and looked around, but he still didn't find Sophie!

"Sir, are you looking for your daughter?" A voice asked.

"Huh? My what? Jimmy asked as he looked around the room to find the person the voice belonged to. Jimmy soon found a young nurse who gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Your daughter? The young woman with the dark hair? Are you looking for her?" The nurse asked again.

"Oh, oh yes! Yes, where is she?" Jimmy asked as he walked towards her.

The young nurse smiled and led Jimmy & Jenny back into the ICU. "I came out and told her that she could come back and see him. I hope that's okay?"

"Yes, yes that's fine. How is he?" Jimmy asked as he fidgeted with his fingers.

"Well, he's in a state of comatose. We're not too sure why, yet. Probably just the body's way of healing. But, we were able to remove the bullet and stitch up the hole in his chest. The bullet barely grazed his lung; it lodged itself in his first intercostal artery. We were able to remove it though without a hitch and we were able to clamp the artery so he wouldn't bleed anymore. He did lose a lot of blood though, which also may be the cause of his comatose state. Luckily, we had his blood type on hand so we were able to do a blood transfusion, as you know, and it was successful. Oh, we also fixed his break in his leg. It will take a long time to heal, as it was a very bad break. He'll probably have to see an orthopedic. But, now, it's just a day by day process. We'll know more about his condition as time goes by." The young nurse explained as she led them to Nate's room. "Oh, and if you would, please just one visitor at a time." She added with a warm smile before leaving.

Jimmy nodded his head at the young woman before turning his attention to the window that looked into the room. He saw Sophie inside, holding tightly onto Nate's left hand.

Sophie was inside the cold room, tightly holding onto Nate's chilled hand. She couldn't believe that the person she was clinging onto Nate; her Nate. His face was so pale, and his normally warm skin was so cold. He looked dead, but the heart monitor beeping every so often and his chest rising & falling reminded her that he was alive.

Sophie felt her lips start to tremble as she brought her hand up to touch his face. "Oh Nate. What have I done? I've caused all of this. If it wasn't for me, none of this would've ever happened to you. I never wanted anything to happen to you. You mean the world to me, Nate. Please know that, and know that I am _so _sorry for what my father did to you Nate. I should've… God I… I never should've run from my father. I should've just let myself be sold to a man. I'd rather have that than you lying here in a hospital bed, possibly dying." Sophie wiped her eyes and sniffed back her tears before continuing. "God, Nate, I love you so much. Please… Please stay with me. I'll die without you Nate. You saved my life, and I will not let you lose yours because of me. So please, fight for me baby, please. Fight for your father and your mother too, because I know that they love you so much and they are worried sick about you." Sophie bit down on her bottom lip to try not to cry but it was difficult. "Nate… I love you so much. Please come back to me." Sophie cried as she finally broke down. Her hand was still clenching to his as she cried.

Sophie felt a soft, warm hand on her back, and for a moment, she though it was Nate. When she looked up though, she noticed that it was Jenny.

Jenny sniffed back her own tears; she cried because she'd overheard everything Sophie said to Nate; and lifted Sophie to her feet before embracing her in a warm, tight hug. "Oh honey, I am so sorry for all those awful things I said. I'm just so scared for Nate." Jenny apologized.

"I know Jenny. I know. I just… I don't want to lose him!" Sophie cried as her head fell against Jenny's chest.

"You won't sweetheart. Nate will be okay, I promise you that." Jenny replied, not only trying to convince Sophie, but herself as well.

**A/N: So I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter! Please let me know what you thought! =)**


	17. Chapter 17

Ch.17

Two weeks had passed and Nate was still in a coma. His vitals were stable; they hadn't changed much since he came out of surgery. There really hadn't been any changes in Nate's condition, and none of the doctors could explain it. It was starting to really worry Jimmy, Jenny and Sophie.

Sophie stayed by Nate's side the entire time, except for when the doctors had to take him to do tests and things. She rarely left his side, not even to grab a bite to eat. She barely left to go to the bathroom unless she really needed to. Jimmy and Jenny had even brought her up some clothes from home so that she could change and shower in the bathroom in Nate's hospital room.

Jenny would hesitantly leave when Jimmy persuaded her to eat, but that was hard enough for him to do. With Sophie, it was an entirely different ball game. The girl was as stubborn as a mule. Then again, Jimmy knew that Sophie didn't want to leave and then Nate wake up with no one there with him.

That is where Sophie is now; right at Nate's bedside, holding his hand tightly and occasionally touching his face. Nate's skin color was back to normal and it was warm again. He was slowly but surely getting back to his old self; unfortunately he was still unconscious.

Sophie let out a heavy sigh as she stroked Nate's hair. She really missed seeing his beautiful blue eyes, and his smile. She craved just to see his bright, warm smile. It always made her feel better seeing his smile.

The female nurse, named Nancy, came into the room and smiled lightly at Sophie, but Sophie didn't even acknowledge her presence; her attention focused solely on Nate. Nancy then checked Nate's vitals and then recorded them in her patient file for Nate. She then turned her attention to Sophie. "Sweetie, can I get you anything to eat or to drink?"

Sophie kept her eyes on Nate as she shook her head. "No thank you. I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I can bring you some McDonald's from across the street if you'd like. I know that the hospital food isn't very appetizing." Nancy tried as she leaned against the wall.

Sophie looked up at the woman and gave her a small smile. "Thanks but no thanks. I'm not really a big fan of their food." Sophie said with a laugh.

Nancy pursed her lips and thought for a moment. "Hmm, okay how about some pancakes? They're not from here; I actually made some this morning and brought them in to work because many people like them here. I still have some if you'd like to have some?"

Sophie thought about this for a second. She was rather hungry, and she wouldn't have to leave Nate. "Sure, that sounds good." Sophie replied with a smile.

"Awesome. Okay, I'll be right back with some warm pancakes. You like syrup, right?" Nancy asked as she eyed Sophie.

"Um, yeah. Maple syrup if you have any." Sophie answered.

"Sure thing sweetie. I'll be right back!" Nancy concluded as she bounced out the door.

Sophie laughed to herself. Nate's nurse reminded her of Parker. She was very giddy and excitable like Parker was. Sophie smiled sadly at the thought of hers & Nate's friend. To Sophie's knowledge, Parker was out of the hospital, but she had to see a therapist. Her father, Malachi, had done awful things to her; things that Sophie could only imagine. Parker wouldn't even speak to anyone; not even Tara, who Parker had to stay with at the moment.

Eliot, sadly, was still in custody awaiting his court date. The prosecutor was honestly thinking about trying to try him as an adult. But Eliot's lawyer; who Eliot paid very handsomely; saw that as cruel and unusual punishment, as he had shot Malachi in self-defense. But the prosecutor argued that it wasn't in _Eliot's _defense, but in Sophie's. Eliot's lawyer was not at all happy about that because Eliot was being held hostage while the thing was going down.

Sophie shook her head sadly as she thought about the situation again for the billionth time. She just couldn't get all those images out of her head; Eliot's and Parker's bodies hoisted up in the air, Nate's battered and bruised body, and then her father's evil eyes; and how he held her hostage with a gun to her head.

Tears filled her eyes and Sophie quickly wiped them away. She decided that she wasn't going to waste any more tears on her evil father.

Sophie felt a squeeze on her hand and she quickly turned her head to look at Nate. His eyes were still closed. Sophie sighed heavily, figuring that she must have just imagined that Nate had squeezed her hand. Turning her head, Sophie looked towards the door to see if Jimmy & Jenny were back yet from getting some breakfast. Or was it lunchtime? She couldn't remember. She hardly paid any attention to time or anything else. If someone were to ask her how long Nate had been in the hospital, she wouldn't have been able to tell them. All she knew was that it had been a very long time. Jimmy would occasionally remind her about what day it was and how long it had been, but she never really listened. She was too concerned for Nate.

Moments later, Sophie once again felt a squeeze on her hand and she looked at Nate. It seemed that he was trying to open his eyes. A bright smile spread across her face as she stood up to touch his face. "Nate? Darling come on. Open your eyes. I know you can do it." Sophie encouraged as she squeezed Nate's hand.

Nate's eyes finally fluttered open and he looked at Sophie. A small smile appeared on his face. "Hey Soph." He said in a raspy voice before coughing.

Sophie quickly grabbed the water that was sitting on the table next to Nate's bed and held it to his lips. "Here sweetie, take a drink of this."

Nate's lips wrapped around the straw and he took a long sip of the ice-cold water. Sighing contentedly he laid back against the pillows and smiled at Sophie. "Hey again, babygirl."

Sophie smiled and placed a warm kiss on Nate's lips. "Hello Nate. I'm so glad that you're okay! Oh! I need to get the nurse in here to let her know you're awake!" Sophie replied as she pressed the call button.

Moments later, it wasn't the nurse who emerged, but Jimmy & Jenny. "Oh Nate! You're awake!" Jenny cried as she rushed to her son's side to place a kiss on his cheek. "How are you feeling, darling?"

"Okay. My leg hurts a bit though." Nate replied as he looked to his father. "Took you long enough to get there, dad." He joked as he smiled at him.

Jimmy snorted and shook his head. "Would've been there a lot sooner if you would've just told me what you were up to instead of leaving that cryptic message."

Sophie looked at Nate confused. "What cryptic message?"

Nate smiled at Sophie. "I uh… Kinda wrote a note on a napkin and left it on the bed. It just had the address on it to where we met up with your dad and said "Be there soon."

Sophie shook her head and squeezed Nate's hand. "I was scared that I had lost you, Nate." Sophie admitted softly as tears pricked her eyes.

Nate reached up to wipe the tears from her eyes. "Hey. It's okay. You haven't lost me yet." Nate replied with a smile. "I love you… Lara Vanderbilt."

A tear slipped past her lashes and down her cheek. "I love you too Nathan Ford."

_**The End**_

**A/N: So that's the end of this story! There will, however, be a sequel. Hopefully you all enjoyed this story!**


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